Using Maxwell-displacement-current (MDC) measurement for Langmuir monolayer. dipole moment of azoberizene dendrimer on the water surface was examined. and analyzed using a simple two-layer model. The dipole moment along molecular long axis of the azobenzene dendrimer molecule increases as the number of constituent azobenzene groups increases. and it also increases with the number of alkyl groups. The dipole moment obtained in the MDC experiments had a similar tendency to the results estimated using molecular orbital (MO) calculation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.