Monolayers Brewster angle light microscopy

Figure 2.6.2 Chiral surface monolayers as observed by (a) Brewster angle light microscopy at low surface pressure (DMPE 0.52 nm ) and (b) fluorescence microscopy at a higher surface pressure at which the dye has been squeezed out into the aqueous phase (DPPC 2% cholesterol).

Brewster-angle microscopy dispensed with the need for a probe molecule [41,42], Brewster-angle microscopy is based solely on the reflectivity properties of p-polarized light. The reflectance of p-polarized light at the water-air interface vanishes at 53.1° (using refractive indices at 20°C) if the interface is perfectly sharp in reality there is a deep minimum near zero. The presence of a monolayer gives an intervening layer of different re-... 

FIGURE 7.5 Brewster angle microscopy of monolayers showing the coexistence of LC (light) and LE (dark) phases. 

Brewster87 angle microscopy is a technique that exploits total reflection of monochromatic visible light at Brewster s angle, Eq. (2.14.31), from an interface Any small adsorbate at the interface—for example, the presence of parts of an adventitious monolayer of different refractive index—can be detected with great sensitivity as a change of reflectivity. 

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