Synchrotron x-ray diffraction results of phospholipid monolayers at an air/water interface are reported and compared with fluorescence microscopic observations of the fluid-gel lipid phase transition. The pressure-induced transition to an orientationally ordered phase occurs at a pressure ${\pi }_c$ which is by more than 15 mN/m below a pressure ${\pi }_s$ where a transition to a positionally ordered phase occurs. Hence there exists an intermediate phase with long-range orientational and short-range positional order.

The surface forces apparatus technique was used for measuring the adhesion, deformation, and fusion of bilayers supported on mica surfaces in aqueous solutions. The most important force leading to the direct fusion of bilayers is the hydrophobic interaction, although the occurrence of fusion is not simply related to the force law between bilayers. Bilayers do not need to "overcome" some repulsive force barrier, such as hydration, before they can fuse. Instead, once bilayer surfaces come within about 1 nanometer of each other, local deformations and molecular rearrangements allow them to "bypass" these forces.