The paper describes the synthesis of surfaces based on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold that were designed to support the adsorption of bilayer lipid membranes, and the feasibility of using these surfaces for making high-density arrays (HDAs) of membranes. The synthesis involved (i) the formation of SAMs of 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHA) on gold; (ii) the activation of the carboxylic acid groups to interchain anhydrides; (iii) the treatment of the reactive surfaces with Brij-76 (C18H37(OCH2CH2)n-10OH) (1) or Brij-76-amine (2) (C18H37(OCH2CH2)n-10NH2); and (iv) the formation of supported membranes by incubation or printing of the lipids. The oligo(ethylene glycol) moiety of the anchor lipid provides a hydrophilic spacer between the surface and the adsorbed lipid to enable the incorporation of membrane-spanning proteins with extramembrane domains. Data from infrared spectroscopy confirmed the coupling of 2 to the surface through the formation of peptide bonds. Ellipsometric me...