Incorporation in Langmuir and Langmuir–Blodgett films of symmetric fluorine substituted bent-core liquid crystals: Morphological and optical properties

Abstract Molecular mono- and multilayer films of a symmetric fluorine substituted bent-core liquid crystalline (LC) compound with hydrocarbon end-chains were prepared by the Langmuir and Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique. Langmuir films were characterized by surface pressure isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy. Likewise LB-films deposited onto amorphous glass substrates were characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, the optical second harmonic generation technique and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results show optimal non-centrosymmetric Z-type LB-film deposition for moderate number of layers ( n