Non-equilibrium dynamics of lipid bilayers

The main goal of this thesis was to extend and apply time resolved x-ray scattering experiments at in-house, synchrotron and free electron laser sources to soft matter sample systems, in particular aligned lipid multilayers on solid support. A special emphasis was placed on a characterization of the non-equilibrium fast time response of the multilamellar stack to shortly pulsed optical excitation as well as the acousto-electric field accompanying a surface acoustic wave (SAW). In addition to fundamental questions associated with non-equilibrium dynamics of soft matter films such as driven membrane undulations, this thesis addresses technological challenges of time resolved x-ray diffraction, in particular concerning the timing scheme that has been implemented at the synchrotron storage ring Petra III, DESY, Hamburg. Importantly, a conceptually new pulse resolved x-ray detection scheme, well exceeding the performance of present detector concepts, has been developed and is described in detail.