SCANNING FORCE AND SCANNING NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL MICROSCOPY OF ORGANIZED MONOLAYERS INCORPORATING A NONAMPHIPHILIC METAL DYAD

A water-soluble metal complex dyad, Rh(III)-X-Ru(II), was incorporated in monolayers at the air/water interface by cospreading with a positi vely (eicosylamine) or negatively (stearic acid) charged amphiphile. A fter transfer of the monolayer onto a mica substrate via the Langmuir- Blodgett technique, a domain structure similar to that at the air/wate r interface was observed by scanning probe microscopy (SPM). With scan ning force microscopy (SFM) we found domains with diameters in the mic rometer range protruding several angstroms from the interstitial areas . The same structure was imaged with scanning near-field optical micro scopy (SNOM) with joint registration of topographic features and ruthe nium fluorescence. We present a model for the complex structure of the molecular film compatible with the different microscopy results.