Nanoparticle arrays in freely suspended vitrified films

We introduce a new methodology to vitrify thin, freely suspended liquid films containing a single layer of nanometer sized particles. The procedure relies on the precise optical control of the stepwise film thinning (stratification) process. We illustrate the applicability of the method to three different types of particles. Stratifying films from surfactant solutions were found to contain nonordered layers of micelles. The experiments with larger particles (lipid or protein vesicles and latex spheres) showed that by controlling the liquid film one can produce well ordered particle arrays.