Morphology and phase behavior of monolayers

The main morphological features of amphiphilic monolayers are surveyed. At present, Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) is the most informative method for such a study. Optical anisotropy resulting from a tilting of the aliphatic chains is accessible and an addition of probe molecules can be avoided. ndensed phase structures formed in the two-phase coexistence region of the main transition vary widely in shape and size depending sensitively on the chemical structure of the amphiphiles and the external driving forces. The inner structure of the two different types of compact domains having long-range orientational order or lower orientational order is considered. ientational order of seven-fold circular domains of different molecular orientation and separated by sharp boundaries is related to the lattice structure. In contrast, inner textures characterized by a wide spread in the segment number, continuous changes of molecular orientation and bowing of the segment boundaries are understood in a manner analogous to the star structural defect in thin liquid crystal films. es for highly ramified or dendritic patterns evolved sufficiently far from equilibrium are presented. They can relax to the equilibrium patterns or are frozen in the non-equilibrium state at high crystallinity. Cellular patterns formed in the fluid phase of low density by a temperature gradient are considered to be dissipative structures. According to the main categories of interaction between the enantiomeric species, representative examples of chiral discrimination effects in shape and inner structure of condensed phase domains are demonstrated.