<span>Field of the invention: The present invention relates to the synthesis of metal oxide films and, more particularly, to a process for synthesizing metal oxide films from liquid solutions onto ordered organic monolayers. The resulting metal oxide film has a highly uniform packing density and particle size. Background of the invention: The field of thin film ceramics has seen rapid growth in recent years. This activity stems in large part from the attractive and often unique properties that ceramic materials bring to a wide variety of applications, including: thin film ferroelectrics; magnetic recording; multilayer coatings for lenses, windows, and laser optics; hard, corrosion-resistant coatings for optical fibers; filters for electromagnetic radiation; acousto-optic devices; and electrochemical sensors for detection of combustible or hazardous species in gases. Another essential ingredient in these developments has been the growing progress in thin film deposition technology, involving gas phase techniques such as chemical vapor deposition, sputtering, laser ablation, and evaporation. Despite their successes, these deposition techniques have some significant shortcomings. Capital equipment costs can be prohibitively high, especially for large-volume applications. There is considerable art associated with the design of the deposition systems and with the control of the operating parameters (e.g., to correct for differential deposition rates between </span><span>components in a multicomponent film). The most common techniques still primarily involve line-of-sight deposition, with limited applicability to particulates and to complex surfaces and shapes. Most importantly, achievement of the desired properties often requires that the substrate be heated to significant temperatures (several hundreds of .degree.C.), either during deposition or subsequently, to convert the usually amorphous as-deposited material into a well-ordered crystalline film. This significantly limits the capabilities of thin film deposition technology for many metal and polymeric substrates. When a specific crystallographic orientation of the thin film is desired, the choice of substrate is usually further restricted to a single-crystal material whose surface interatomic spacing closely matches that of the desired crystalline film, enabling epitaxial growth. Liquid phase thin film preparation techniques are also known in the art and involve homogeneous precipitation of colloidal particles or gel solutions which are cast as films onto substrates. These methods include sol-gel, colloidal particle systems, spray pyrolysis, and electroless and electrodeposition. Obstacles are associated with these techniques with respect to thin film formation. Colloidal systems, for example, can have low densities and uncontrolled microstructures as a result of the use of binder phases or the aggregation of colloidal particles.http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5545432</span>
