Molecular resolution was possible, using the atomic force microscope, in single Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers on films of cadmium arachidate on mica. The images clearly showed the molecular organization which had been proposed for the 2-dimensional hexatic-B phase. That is, the molecular chains were packed hexagonally with their long axes normal to the substrate surface and in small domains with their hexagonal patterns oriented in the same direction (so-called bond orientational order), separated by regions of relative disorder. In the case of the domains, the dimensions of the unit cell were in excellent agreement with X-ray and electron diffraction data. There was some variation in film thickness, with highly ordered hexagonal domains being slightly thicker than the regions which exhibited dislocations and disorder. The monolayer films had a mismatch of about 10% with the mica lattice, thus indicating that the substrate structure did not determine the structure of the deposited monolayer.

J.B.Peng, G.T.Barnes: Thin Solid Films, 1994, 252[1], 44-8

Effective Diffusion Coefficient and Correlation Effects in Periodic Grain Boundaries (see under Diffusion Processes)

Atomic-Scale Studies of Solute-Atom Segregation at Grain Boundaries (see under Diffusion Processes)

A New Model for Grain Boundary Diffusion and Nucleation in Thin-Film Reactions (see under Diffusion Processes)