Ellipsometry is well known for its extreme sensitivity to the presence and properties of ultra-thin films. In the infrared, resonance response to chemical bonds allows chemical identification in monolayer-thick biological films. In this paper we show results of attachment repeatability for successive layers of monosialoganglioside, cholera toxin, and related antibodies using in situ visible spectroscopic ellipsometry. Several factors contributing to difficulty in obtaining reproducible results are discussed. Soecifically, these include freshness of reagents; surface type, cleaning, and preparation; temperature; birefringence of liquid cell windows; and cell design. Sensitivity and signal noise considerations for infrared spectra of molecular monolayers are discussed.

Date Published: 23 July 2003
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 4965, Optical Diagnostics and Sensing in Biomedicine III, (23 July 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.479262

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4965:
Optical Diagnostics and Sensing in Biomedicine III
Alexander V. Priezzhev; Gerard L. Cote, Editor(s)