Electrostatic properties of ultra-thin polyimide Langmuir-Blodgett films biased in a needle-plane electrode system

Surface potentials of polyimide (PI) Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films on metal (Al, Ag and Au) electrodes, charged at various voltages, were examined under a needle-plane electrode system. It was found that PI LB films were negatively charged when the biasing voltage applied to the needle-electrode increased. The surface potentials saturated when the number of deposited layers was 20 to 30, and they were dependent on the nature of the metal electrodes. The temperature dependence of the surface potential also was examined, and it was concluded that the tendency to accept electrons increases as the temperature increases. These results suggest that the presence of interfacial electrostatic space charges in as-deposited PI LB films at the metal/film interface made a significant contribution to the creation of the additional electrostatic potential when the films were biased under a needle-plane electrode system.