Kinetic behaviour of a structural phase transition in Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers studied by energy dispersive x-ray reflectivity

Various multilayers of Cd stearate were prepared by means of the Langmuir-Blodgett technique and investigated at T = Ts - ΔT (Ts, melting point of LB film). The x-ray scattering spectrum was recorded in several time intervals using an energy dispersive set up. For ΔT = 3 ... 9 K the observed intensity reduction of Bragg peaks, which corresponds to the multilayer periodicity, is recorded as a function of time. In addition new peaks appear. This is interpreted in terms of a kinetically driven phase separation of the metastable LB-phase. The time needed for phase disorder and the nucleation of the new phase decreases for smaller ΔT. The measured layer spacing of the new phase is larger than th…