RK 1: Standard Langmuir Trough

The RK 1 is our 'workhorse' and is respected as a standard trough. It was originally designed to fit under an epifluorescence microscope, but it is much more versatile. E.g., its size is compatible to the imaging ellipsometer of OPTREL.

Due to the modularity, it is more than just a film balance: the trough can be easily separated form the frame that carries the mechanics for the barriers. Therefore, various troughs of different size can be used at different times with one frame. The trough is temperature isolated from the frame, which saves heating or cooling time.

Troughs that are available:

Standard: area = 160 cm², circular dipping well in center (diameter: 2cm, depth: 2cm), depth of trough = 3 mm.

Two compartment: as Standard, but without dipping well; instead, at the center a triangular barrier is formed to seperate the subphase into two compartments.

Bio: area = 60 cm², comes with seperate set of barriers and additional subphase seperators. Special construction allows in situ exchange of subphase.

Electronics

Full analog electronics, modular, precise, and easy to handle.

• Open, easily expandable architecture
• Stand-alone operation, without computer, possible
• All quantities (pressure, area, barrier speed, temperature) visible on LED display and as a voltage on a BNC output
• Passive data recording by computer 
• Complete electronics fit in standard 19" housing

Special Troughs

Many other trough designs are available. Here we give only a brief listing. More information will be available later on this homepage ...

RK 3: LB Deposition Filmbalance

Large trough system for LB deposition.Two synchroneously moving barriers, A=1200 cm²  , dipping well 100 mm diameter and 100 mm depth.

X-ray Trough

Various designs for x-ray reflectivity measurements at the air-water interface have been developed; all of them were made according to customer specifications. An example can be seen here.

IR Reflectivity Trough

A special trough was designed to fit into the FTIR spectrometer of Bruker Analytik GmbH. Ask for more information.

Brewster Angle Microscopy Trough

We deliver the trough that fits for the Multiskop of Optrel GmbH .