Investigation of structural properties in biomolecular systems using synchrotron-based spectroscopies [Elektronische Ressource] / von Kurt Kummer

Investigation of structural properties inbiomolecular systems usingsynchrotron-based spectroscopiesDissertationzur Erlangung des akademischen GradesDoctor rerum naturalium(Dr. rer. nat.)vorgelegt der Fakult¨at Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften derTechnischen Universit¨at Dresden vonDipl.-Phys. Kurt Kummergeboren am 27. Dezember 1982 in Schwedt/OderEingereicht am 25. November 2009Die Dissertation wurde in der Zeit von Oktober 2007 bis November 2009am Institut fu¨r Festk¨orperphysik angefertigt.Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Clemens Laubschat (TU Dresden)Prof. Dr. Eckhardt Ru¨hl (FU Berlin)AbstractSolid state approaches to structural properties like diffraction or microscopy tech-niques often cannot be applied to biomolecular systems, at least not without special post-preparation which often corrupts the desired properties of the pristine systems. In thiswork the capabilities of synchrotron-based, soft X-ray spectroscopies as an alternative wayto unravel structural properties of such systems are tested. To this end, three exemplarysystems were investigated each with the focus on another facet and characteristic lengthscale. The first example are DNA-alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers, also known asDNA microarrays or DNA chips, for which a way to monitor and controllably tune thestructural composition onthe mesoscopic scale ofmany thousandsofmolecules wassoughtfor.