The J-aggregation phenomenon of cyanine dyes has important commercial appli
cations in the photographic industry. A typical cyanine dye was appended to
poly-l-lysine in order to stabilize its J-aggregation at the molecular lev
el. Molecular modeling was used to provide information on the conformation
of the dye-polymer formed. Possible orientations of poly-l-lysine with cyan
ine dyes appended to it based on molecular modeling calculations and physic
al measurements are discussed and evidence for a beta -pleated sheet confor
mation of the poly-l-lysine is shown. Also, for the first time J-aggregated
monomer dyes and dye-polymers are used to build layer-by-layer assemblies
in combination with inorganic clay sheets. The newly created architectures
are used to fabricate three-dimensional structures on a solid support and h
ave potential applications in building layered systems for optical signal p
rocessing. Microscopy measurements provide information about the organizati
on of the J-aggregated cyanine dye-clay composites on solid supports.