SURFACE-PLASMON MICROSCOPY OF LIPID LAYERS

This paper deals with the application of surface plasmon microscopy to the imaging of laterally structured lipid layers deposited onto the plasmon-carrying metal substrate by the Langmuir-Blodgett dipping technique. It is demonstrated that the highest contrast (of order 0.1 nm) can be combined with a lateral resolution of better than 5μm. Examples are given (i) for the microscopic observation of photodesorption used as a dry etching technique, (ii) for optical storage experiments using liquid crystalline polymers as a thin film matrix and (iii) for the imaging of a lipid monolayer during its phase transition from a fluid-expanded to a condensed state. © 1990.