Scanning probe microscope studies of thermodynamic and kinetic processes in ultrathin organic films

The recent use of scanning probe microscopy has gone beyond basic structural measurements to studies of -processes including self-assembled monolayer growth, phase transitions in Langmuir-Blodgett films and morphological transformations in surfactant interfacial aggregates. Also, the influence of the probe itself on film structure was demonstrated in experiments that showed tip-induced changes to molecular packing and orientation.