Organosilane self-assembled multilayer formation based on activation of methyl-terminated surface with reactive oxygen species generated by vacuum ultra-violet excitation of atmospheric oxygen molecules

A xenon excimer lamp which irradiates vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) light at 172 nm in wavelength was applied to the photochemical surface conversion of n-octadecyltrimethoxysilane self-assembled monolayer (ODS-SAM) in the presence of atmospheric oxygen and subsequent multilayer fabrication. The terminal functional groups of ODS-SAM, –CH3 groups, were converted into polar functional groups, like –COOH, by the reaction with atomic oxygen species generated photochemically through VUV excitation of atmospheric oxygen molecules. The structure of the resulting organosilane multilayer with different numbers of superimposed monolayers (from 1 to 11), prepared on a smooth and hydrophilic silicon substrate by the layer-by-layer (LbL) approach, was examined in terms of molecular organization as well as the intra- or interlayer binding modes in such novel films. Ellipsometry and grazing angle X-ray reflectivity measurements revealed that multilayer films of up to 11 discrete monolayers were successfully obtained, indicating that the self-assembly is a viable technique for the construction of relatively thick (16 nm and above) multilayer films.