Surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) has emerged as a useful technique for studying lipid membranes, as it significantly enhances detection sensitivity for monitoring conformation and structure at single bilayer interfaces without interference from bulk solvent backgrounds. In SEIRAS, a thin, nanoscale-roughened, metal film is deposited on an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) crystal, enabling the IR beam to excite local surface plasmons in the metal.