@article{WeberFrankBommeletal.2012,
  author    = {Weber, Cornelia and Frank, C. and Bommel, Sebastian and Rukat, Tammo and Leitenberger, Wolfram and Sch{\"a}fer, Peter and Schreiber, Frank and Kowarik, Stefan},
  title     = {Chain-length dependent growth dynamics of n-alkanes on silica investigated by energy-dispersive x-ray reflectivity in situ and in real-time},
  series = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr},
  volume    = {136},
  journal   = {The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr},
  number    = {20},
  publisher = {American Institute of Physics},
  address   = {Melville},
  issn      = {0021-9606},
  doi       = {10.1063/1.4719530},
  pages     = {7},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {We compare the growth dynamics of the three n-alkanes C36H74, C40H82, and C44H90 on SiO2 using real-time and in situ energy-dispersive x-ray reflectivity. All molecules investigated align in an upright-standing orientation on the substrate and exhibit a transition from layer-by-layer growth to island growth after about 4 monolayers under the conditions employed. Simultaneous fits of the reflected intensity at five distinct points in reciprocal space show that films formed by longer n-alkanes roughen faster during growth. This behavior can be explained by a chain-length dependent height of the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier. Further x-ray diffraction measurements after growth indicate that films consisting of longer n-alkanes also incorporate more lying-down molecules in the top region. While the results reveal behavior typical for chain-like molecules, the findings can also be useful for the optimization of organic field effect transistors where smooth interlayers of n-alkanes without coexistence of two or more molecular orientations are required.},
  language  = {en}
}