ABSTRACT:The paper describes fabrication of hybrid polymer nanoassemblies possessing polymer nanosheets and metal nanoparticle arrays. Based on a bottom-up approach with ultrathin polymer Langmuir-Blodgett films (polymer nanosheets) and metal nanoparticles, we constructed hybrid nanoassemblies for opto/electric nanodevice applications: nanoscale positioning of metal nanoparticles, free-standing hybrid polymer nanosheets, hybrid polymer nanoassemblies for luminescence sensor application, and enhancement of nonlinear optical (NLO) efficiency via surface plasmon coupling. Assembling nanomaterials such as nanoparticles and organic functional molecules through a bottom-up approach makes it possible to strengthen free-standing nanofilm stability, enhance luminescence of luminescent molecules, and enhance second harmonic light from NLO molecules under the influence of localized surface plasmons. The high potential of hybrid polymer nanoassemblies for precise nanoscale design is also demonstrated.[doi:10.1295/polymj.PJ2006235] KEY WORDS Polymer / LB Film / Metal Nanoparticle / Surface Plasmon / Hybrid / Design of nanostructures using polymer materials has been widely explored and has now become prevalent. Bottom-up approaches such as layer-by-layer (LbL) adsorption, 1 surface-initiated polymerization exemplified by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), 2 and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique [3][4][5][6][7] make it possible to develop myriad nanoarchitectures on solid substrates. These approaches and their combinations offer a promising route to polymer nanoarchitectures for a wide variety of functional materials and surfaces. Using these nanostructures, for instance, the surface properties can be controlled uniformly, even on a nanoscale. These compelling qualities of ultrathin polymer films have been expanded to broad scientific fields. It is important to intensify the interdisciplinary interactions, for example, between polymer materials and inorganic nanoparticles in basic and application-oriented work.We have investigated functionalization of polymer LB films consisting of poly(alkylacrylamide)s. Poly-(N-dodecylacrylamide) (pDDA) proved to be excellent for LB assembly; the material provides a highly oriented and densely packed monolayer at the airwater interface. 8,9 Varying the side chain length, the film thickness is tuned at a nanometer scale (1-2 nm in length). Widely various functional molecules were incorporated and distributed uniformly in a two-dimensional (2D) field. The key factor is the existence of a 2D hydrogen-bonding network between polymer backbones, which enhances the monolayer stability at the air-water interface, leading to quantitative deposition onto solid substrates via vertical dipping. We recently designated polymer LB films consisting of alkyl acrylamide polymer as polymer nanosheets. Using these advantages, directional (vectorial) electron transfer between several redox components was achieved in multilayered polymer nanosheets, 10,11 extending to logic gate operations.12, 13 We have...