3.4.3 AFM Imaging

 The LB films were formed by transferring the Langmuir films of Dendl, Dend2, and

PAA250K Onto freshly cleaved mica at various surface pressures. The desired surface pressure

was attained at compression/expansion rates of +/-5 mm/min. Once the films had equilibrated at

a constant surface pressure for 15 min, the mica substrate was then pulled out of the water at a

rate of 1 mm/min. All the transfer ratios were close to unity unless otherwise stated, which is

indicative of successful transfer. The transferred films were air-dried in a desiccator for 24 h and

subsequently scanned in tapping mode with a Nanoscope III AFM (Digital Instruments, Inc.,

Santa Barbara, CA) using Nanosensors silicon probes (dimensions: T = 3.8-4.5 pum, W = 26-27

pum, L = 128 pum). All the images were processed with a second-order flattening routine.