Date of Award

12-2011

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Campus-Only Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Physics

Advisor

Michael D. Mason

Second Committee Member

David J. Neivandt

Third Committee Member

Samuel T. Hess

Abstract

Understanding surface and interfacial lateral organization in material and biological systems is critical in nearly every field of science. The continued development of tools and techniques viable for elucidation of interfacial and surface information is thus necessary to address new questions and further current investigations. Sum frequency spectroscopy is a label free nonlinear optical technique with inherent surface specificity that can yield inter- facial organizational information. Here I detail the construction and function of a hybrid sum frequency spectroscopy spectral imaging and confocal fluorescence imaging micro- scope directly amenable to surface investigations. I additionally detail two surface related studies: investigations of support induced perturbations in solid and cushioned phospho- lipid bilayers fabricated by Langmuir-Blodgett/Langmuir Schäfer techniques using z-scan fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, and comparison of a Raman active, novel geome- try, gold nanoprobe with a popular organic fluorophore for imaging applications.

Download

Files over 10MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share