Fluorescence Microscopy: A Tool for Studying the Physical Chemistry of Interfaces

The technique of fluorescence microscopy is surveyed. The basic phenomenon of fluorescence and the basic instrumentation are described. The resolution limit of the technique is considered. Extensions of the basic technique to studying dynamics, interfacial behavior, and resonance energy transfer are described. The confocal scanning technique, which improves resolution perpendicular to the image plane, is described. A new and growing application of the technique to the study of surfactant monolayers at the air-water interface is presented in some detail. In this review, we present an overview of the technique of fluorescence microscopy and its application in a variety of experiments. The principal use of fluorescence microscopy has been in the domain of biology, but it has also been employed to investigate a variety of physical and chemical phenomena. As an example of the power and utility of the method, we will describe the results of investigations on Langmuir monolayers, drawing largely from our work.