Molecular Orientation in the Organized Molecular Films of Fluorinated Comb Polymers with Various Chain Lengths Studied by Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

The molecular orientation in multilayer films of fluorinated comb polymers with various side-chain lengths can be characterized by near-edge X-ray absorption fine structures (NEXAFS) spectroscopy at the C K- and F K-edges. The spectra are found to change significantly with respect to the incidence angles of the soft X-rays and the number of layers in organized molecular films as well as chemical modifications such as fluorocarbon side-chain lengths, the atoms at the (omega)-position of the fluorocarbon side-chains, and (alpha)-methyl substituents. Analysis of these changes of the NEXAFS spectra provides useful information about the average molecular orientation in the X- and Z-types of mono- and multilayer films of the fluorinated comb polymers on solids.