Langmuir-Blodgett films of acetalized poly(vinyl alcohol)s

Abstract

Monolayers and multilayers of amphiphilic polymers consisting of acetalized poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) having various linear aliphatic side chains were investigated and their electron beam (EB) exposure characteristics were measured. It was found that monolayers of acetalized PVA having long alkyl side chains were stable on water and could be deposited onto both hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrates with a deposition ratio of 1.0. The resulting multilayers were Y type. The wettability of the multilayers changed according as there was an odd or an even number of layers. The thickness per layer increased with the length of the alkyl side chain. These results suggested that Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of acetalized PVA having long alkyl side chains were rather well-ordered with the side chains directed normal to the main chains. The acetalized PVA prepared by the LB method is adaptable as a high resolution negative-type EB resist.