Adjustable speed and vibration-free hydraulic system for Langmuir–Blodgett films deposition

Abstract

Conventional apparatus for the dipping and raising of slides usually uses an electric motor with the slides fixed in a rigid holder. Most of the devices create a great deal of vibrations and this produces a nonuniform film deposition. We have used a new apparatus, which does not produce any vibrations of the slide, to build up Langmuir–Blodgett films. To move the slide, we employ a column of water and use the siphon principle, with speeds that can be varied between 3.0 and 120.0 mm min−1. An electronic circuit controls the automatic dipping and raising of the slide. A relay switches the solenoid valve to move the piston in the opposite direction. A machined Teflon trough and antivibration mount are used for the monolayer preparation. With this method, the deposition ratio usually obtained for the cadmium arachidate and chlorophyll a is 1.00±0.05. The absorption spectrum of multilayers of chlorophyll a give a linear relation between the absorbance at 680 nm and the number of layers up to 10. The nonlinear relation for the number of layers higher than 10 is explained by the presence of aggregates.