Fluctuations caught in the act (original) (raw)

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• Published: 23 March 2000

Critical phenomena

Nature volume 404, page 352 (2000)Cite this article

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Abstract

When a system approaches a critical point, strong fluctuations develop on every scale, from molecules to the entire system. Here we show that critical fluctuations in the domains in a lipid monolayer can be captured and measured by immobilizing it on a solid support and visualizing the pattern using atomic-force microscopy. Such fluctuations in physical properties may reflect the nanometre-scale domain organization in the lipid-bilayer component of biological membranes.

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Figure 1: Critical fluctuations in phospholipid monolayers imaged by atomic-force microscopy as a height-difference map.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, DK-2800, Denmark
   Lars K. Nielsen & Ole G. Mouritsen
2. Laboratory for Materials Science Department of Chemistry, CISMI, University of Copenhagen, Fruebjergvej 3, Copenhagen, DK-2100, Denmark
   Thomas Bjørnholm

Authors

1. Lars K. Nielsen
2. Thomas Bjørnholm
3. Ole G. Mouritsen

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Correspondence toOle G. Mouritsen.

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Nielsen, L., Bjørnholm, T. & Mouritsen, O. Fluctuations caught in the act.Nature 404, 352 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35006162

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• Issue Date: 23 March 2000
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35006162

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