Using SERGIS to characterise monolayer buckling on the approach to collapse

Thin films just one or a few molecules thick can play an important role in controlling many important phenomena. This includes the lipid monolayers that coat the surface of our lungs or form the membrane at the surface of a bacteria and proteins and peptides stabilizing foams in food and drink applications. In this experiment we will use the special property of the neutron to precess like a gyroscope to probe the details of two such thin films when they are under compression. When compressed, such films have been observed first to wrinkle with a periodic wavelength and then to fold before collapse. The wrinkle wavelength is determined by the mechanical properties of the film, which in turn affects how stable the peptide layer stabilising a foam might be or how a bacterial membrane responds to the addition of peptide molecules.