MORPHOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIZED MONOLAYERS BYBREWSTER-ANGLE MICROSCOPY

Brewster angle microscopy has been involved in some of the recent adva nces in the field of monomolecular layers, such as the detection of a phase transition in monolayers formed by a surfactant at the solution surface, the determination of the line tension of condensed phase doma ins coexisting with a liquid expanded phase, as well as new insights i n the role of head group interactions (e.g. hydrogen bonds) and in the organisation of biological materials in thin films.