Electro-Optical Imaging Microscopy of Dye-Doped Artificial Lipidic Membranes

Artificial lipidic bilayer is widely used as a model of lipid matrix of biological cell membranes. We use the Pockels effect to study the electro-optical properties of an artificial lipidic membrane doped with nonlinear molecules inserted to one leaflet of the bilayer. We report what is believed to be the first electro-optical Pockels signal from such a membrane. The membrane is imaged and the signal as a function of potential difference is studied. A theoretical analysis taking into account the orientation distribution of the inserted dye molecules allows us to estimate the doped membrane nonlinearity. Potential applications to study living cell membranes are discussed.