Thermal fluctuations and stability of solid-supported lipid membranes

In this review article we discuss recent work on the thermal stability, thermal fluctuations and interaction forces in lipid membrane stacks. The lipid bilayers are deposited on solid surfaces for investigation by interface sensitive x-ray and neutron scattering on length scales ranging from the molecular to the mesoscopic scale. We discuss how the structure, composition, fluctuations, and interactions in lipid and biomimetic membranes can be studied in the fluid Lalpha phase. Results on the interaction potentials, height-height correlation functions, elasticity parameters, fluid lipid chain ordering, and collective lipid chain motions are discussed.