Formation of Langmuir-Blodgett films of a fullerene

The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the fullerene (C[sub 60]) were formed with and without matrix molecules. The pure C[sub 60] formed a collapsed film at the air-water interface. The surface of the transferred film was inhomogeneous, as observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The monolayers of a 1:1 mixture with icosanoic acid were transferred onto substrates with good quality. The LB films had a smooth surface composed of a mixture of C[sub 60] and icosanoic acid dispersed with flat microcrystals of C[sub 60] observed by AFM. The 1:1 mixture with dioctadecyldimethylammonium perchlorate was deposited as Z-type film onto the substrates. The absorption spectra of both of the mixed films were in good agreement with those of evaporated films. These films will be precursors of the molecular systems utilizing the peculiar properties of fullerenes and fullerene anions. 13 refs., 4 figs.