In-plane anisotropy in batch-produced Langmuir-Blodgett films: Side-by-side and face-to-face arrays

In-plane anisotropy of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films is affected by the arrangement of substrates when many samples are batch produced in one single trough. We examined the dichroic behavior for two different cases of the batch production. In the case of substrates aligned side by side, the dichroic behavior is similar to that in the single-substrate production and agrees with the flow orientation model. In the face-to-face case, however, the tendency is quite different from both the single-substrate production and the side-by-side case, clearly deviating from the theoretical predictions. This discrepancy is suggested to be due to a dead water area which should be formed around the stagnation point.