| Abstract
| - We report the design and calibration of a miniature Langmuir trough that can be mounted on a microscopestage. The fully sealed trough can be used for carrying out routine monolayer experiments, such as thecontrol and measurement of area and surface pressure, on the order of 13 h without infiltration ofcontaminants. In experiments carried out with the minitrough to observe the slow growing and shrinkingof monolayer domains via the Ostwald ripening process, qualitative observations and quantitative resultswere in good agreement with theoretical expectations. The minitrough can also be used to study biologicalamphiphiles (e.g., lipid−protein interactions) in controlled vapor and under contaminant-free conditions.
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