Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique has been used for the preparation of ultrathin tin dioxide film. Octadecyl amine (ODA) forms a stable complex with sodium stannate at the air-water interface and ODA-stannate complex has been deposited on solid substrate by LB technique. Multilayer LB films have been decomposed at 300 degrees C and 600 degrees C for 2-3 h to form thin metal oxide films on various substrates. The oxide films have been characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements. XRD measurements show the formation of crystalline structure of SnO(2) after heating of the multilayer LB film at a temperature of 600 degrees C. FTIR and XPS measurements indicate that ODA molecule is almost removed after heating at 300 degrees C and pure SnO(2) has been formed when it is heated at 600 degrees C. Current and capacitance voltage measurements on Si/SnO(2)/gold and quartz/SnO(2)/gold structure show the formation of semiconducting SnO(2) thin films. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.