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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging and Force Spectroscopy of Supported Lipid Bilayers
Published on: July 22, 2015
Structure and interaction potentials in solid-supported lipid membranes studied by X-ray reflectivity at varied
U Mennicke1, D Constantin, T Salditt
1Institut für Röntgenphysik, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany. ulrike.mennicke@gmx.net
Abstract:
Highly oriented solid-supported lipid membranes in stacks of controlled number N approximately 16 (oligo-membranes) have been prepared by spin-coating using the uncharged lipid model system 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). The samples have been immersed in aqueous polymer solutions for control of osmotic pressure and have been studied by X-ray reflectivity. The bilayer structure and fluctuations have been determined by modelling the data over the full q-range. Thermal fluctuations are described using the continuous smectic Hamiltonian with the appropriate boundary conditions at the substrate and at the free surface of the stack. The resulting fluctuation amplitudes and the pressure-distance relation are discussed in view of the inter-bilayer potential.
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