NOVEL SUPERSTRUCTURES FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT POLARIZATION IN LB FILMS

The incorporation of tricosanoic acid bilayers (TABs) at strategic poi nts within the alternate-layer film has led to an enhancement of the p yroelectric response. The insertion of non-pyroelectric TABs is believ ed to screen one block of aligned material from another allowing the a lignment of polysiloxane and eicosylamine to be maintained throughout the structure. The effect on the pyroelectricity of changing the numbe r of TABs added into alternate-layer films containing 13 monolayers (7 polysiloxane/6 eicosylamine) has been investigated over a range of te mperatures. The quasi-static pyroelectric coefficient is optimised whe n 3 TABs are incorporated into the alternate-layer assembly. At room t emperature (25 degrees C) the effective pyroelectric activity is doubl ed due to the inclusion of the non-active TABs.