Ultra thin silicon oxide and metal oxide films and a method for the preparation thereof

Abstract

Ultra thin organo-ceramic and metal oxide films are prepared under room temperature and atmospheric conditions by exposing .alpha., .omega.--functional siloxane oligomers and fatty acid metal soaps, respectively, to a combination of ultraviolet light (UV) and ozone (O.sub.3). The process includes the steps of preparing ultra thin .alpha., .omega.--functional polysiloxane and fatty acid metal soap films using, but not limited to, the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. The LB technique permits construction of molecular monolayer or multilayer films on a variety of substrates. By using carboxylic acid end groups on the siloxane oligomers, metal ions can be incorporated into the SiO.sub.x film after UV-ozone exposure. This technique can be used to make electronically, optically, and chemically important organo-ceramic and metal oxide films on temperature sensitive substrates.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.