THE EFFECT OF MOLECULAR-STRUCTURE AND OF 3-DIMENSIONAL ORDER ON ELECTRON TRANSMISSION THROUGH THIN ORGANIC LAYERS

The electron transmission through thin organic films was investigated in order to reveal the effect of the chemical nature of the molecules composing the thin organic layer and the role of the three-dimensional structure of the film on the electron transmission efficiency. By pre paring Langmuir-Blodgett layers from two types of amphiphile and a fil m which is a mixture of both, we could vary the chemical properties of the film and the order in the plane perpendicular to the direction of electron propagation. It was found that the electron transmission yie ld depends on the chemical nature of the him and varies with the him t hickness in a non-trivial way. In the case of the mixed film, the elec tron transmission is reduced dramatically compared to the films compos ed from one type of molecule. The results are explained by the long wa velength associated with the low-energy electrons. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.