This work aimed to the determination of weight uptakes and charge balance in the course of successive deposition of polyelectrolytes, using the so-called self-assembled multilayer technique. Polyelectrolytes were the quaternized polydimethylaminoethyl methacrylate chloride, (MADQUAT) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). Experiments were made at pH 5.5 in NaCl solutions between 10(-3) and 10(-1) M. Deposits (5 bilayers) on a gold substrate were monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and optical fixed-angle reflectometry. Analysis of data lead to the determination of the sensitivity factor of the reflectometric output. QCM allowed the direct measurement of weight uptakes in 10(-3) and 10(-2) M solutions, while the viscoelastic properties of the film did not took appropriate for the measurement in 10(-1) M solutions. The layer-by-layer uptakes and charge balances in 10(-3) and 10(-2) M solutions revealed a large contribution of the counterions in the neutralization of the electrical charge in the film, more so for the highly charged MADQUAT polymer. The difference between two successive polymer charge densities increased significantly with the layer number and the electrolyte concentration. The increase of NaCl concentration induced an increase of MADQUAT but reversely a decrease of PAA deposits. The results were consistent with the determining influence of the salt in polyelectrolyte adsorption, both with regards to the concentration and the type of ions that has been well demonstrated in the literature. This work also draws attention to the role of small ions in the structural and application properties of self-assembled multilayer films. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.