Structure and fluctuations of highly oriented phospholipid membranes

Highly oriented lipid membranes deposited on solid substrates offer unique experimental possibilities to study self-assembly phenomena, fluctuations, and interactions in lipid bilayer systems, both with and without additional membrane-active molecules such as amphiphilic peptides or membrane proteins. In diffraction experiments, the high orientation allows for a precise distinction between the normal qz, and lateral component q∥ of the scattering vector q→, opening up a way to study biologically relevant questions associated with the lateral structure of the bilayers. Modern sources and instruments for neutron and X-ray scattering, in particular the advent of third-generation synchrotron sources enable studies even of weakly scattering and weakly ordered systems.