Cyclohexyl methyl methylphosphonate or phosphonic acid is used as a micro-nano electronic materials have extended self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) beyond conventional gold/thiol systems. To expand the choice of the substrate used for the preparation of SAMs, the chemical functionalities in film-forming molecules can be altered by introducing phosphate or phosphonate groups. Such polar acidic molecules are capable of interacting with diverse metal-oxide surfaces (e.g., Al2O3, Ta2O5, NbO5, ZrO2 and TiO2) and form films with a similar degree of ordering as for alkyl thiol SAMs on gold.