Eur. Phys. J. E 7, 105-116 (2002)
DOI: 10.1140/epje/i200101154

X-ray reflectivity of solid-supported, multilamellar membranes

T. Salditt, C. Li, A. Spaar and U. Mennicke

Experimentphysik, Universität des Saarlandes, Postfach 15 11 50, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany

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(Received 1 October 2001 and Received in final form 21 December 2001)

Abstract
We have investigated the structure of solid-supported, multilamellar membranes by X-ray reflectivity. The density profile is obtained by fitting the full q-range to a model using the bilayer Fourier coefficients as fitting parameters. The effect of hydration and the substrate boundary condition are discussed in view of the well-known Landau-Peierls effect and its implications for structure determination. The resulting bilayer density profile agrees remarkably well with previously published data of a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation for 1,2-oleoyl-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (OPPC).

PACS
61.10.Kw X-ray - reflectometry (surfaces, interfaces, films).
87.16.Dg - Membranes, bilayers, and vesicles.
87.15.Ya - Fluctuations.


© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2002