title: From Langmuir-Blodgett films to single molecules.
abstract: The author recollects his time in the group of D. Möbius in 1985-1986, within the department headed by Hans Kuhn, and the influence of Kuhn's concept of molecular assembly in the gestation of the first single-molecule experiments. He then briefly surveys the recent applications of single-molecule spectroscopy to complex and heterogeneous systems. In particular the field of single-molecule microscopy in membranes and at biological interfaces is now strongly growing, closing the circle back to Langmuir films, the systems which led to the development of single-molecule optical techniques.
authors.affiliation: MoNOS, Huygens Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands. orrit@molphys.leidenuniv.nl
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orrit
mesh_terms: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial