A stable Eu(DBM)(3)(DB-bpy)/AA/TiO2 monolayer was formed on the surface of a composite subphase by spreading an Eu(DBM)(3)(DB-bpy)/AA/TBT chloroform solution. DBM, DB-bpy, AA and TBT refer to dibenzoylmethanate, 4,4-'Di-tert-butyl-2,2-'bipyridine, arachidic acid and tetrabutyloxyltitanium, respectively. Eu(DBM)(3)(DB-bpy)/AA/TiO2 Langmuir-Blodgett films were deposited on solid substrates and were characterized by low-angle X-ray diffractometry, UV-visible (UV refers to ultra-violet) spectroscopy, photoluminescent spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis. The results show that a luminescent composite film with layered structure was fabricated, which shows characteristic emission of Eu(III). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.