  An application of the radiolysis method using X-ray synchrotron beam is
developed as a novel approach to the synthesis of metal-organic films with
controlled shapes and thickness. We demonstrate that a Langmuir monolayer
deposited onto a silver ion-containing subphase, irradiated by an incident beam
impinging below the critical angle for total reflection, induces the synthesis
of a stable nanostructured silver-organic ultrathin film at the air-water
interface. The X-ray scattering is also used to monitor in situ the structure
of the silver layer during the synthesis process. The layer is observed by AFM
after its transfer onto a silicon substrate. One observes a film thickness of
4.6 nm, in good agreement with the X-ray penetration depth, about 4.5 nm. The
silver structure is oriented by the initial organic film phase. This experiment
demonstrates the considerable potential of this approach to produce various
controlled metal-organic films with a surfactant self-assembly as a template.
