High Speed Wideband Infrared Nanospectroscopy Platform

Anasys Instruments proposes to develop a high speed Wideband Infrared NanoSpectroscopy (WINS) platform that will dramatically extend the available capabilities for chemical characterization at the nanoscale. The proposed project will develop and demonstrate key technologies to overcome barriers that currently prevent widespread use of infrared nano-spectroscopy. The project will include demonstration of a new wideband infrared laser sourceunlike commercially available lasersthat is specifically developed and optimized for infrared nano-spectroscopy techniques based on atomic force microscopy and near-field optical microscopy. Specifically, the WINS project will involve: 1) Development of a rapidly tunable mid-IR laser source capable of sweeping over a range of 2.5-12 m for a variety of wideband infrared nanospectroscopy applications. 2) Development of dynamic beam control to rapidly adjust and optimize laser beam angle, power, and polarization at the apex of an AFM tip over wide wavelength ranges 3) Development of hardware, electronics and software to enable nanoscale mid-IR absorption spectra in time scales of less than 1 sec for nanoscale hyperspectral imaging. 4) Integration of the widely tunable mid-IR laser source with a new AFM-based infrared nanospectroscopy platform (enabling simultaneous photothermal and s-SNOM techniques) to enable infrared measurements with spatial resolution of & lt;20 nm. This new WINS platform will employ AFM-based techniques that use the probe of an AFM to detect absorption and scattering of infrared radiation by the region of a sample just under the tip. This project is anticipated to have far reaching impacts. Infrared spectroscopy is arguably the most widely used technique for chemical characterization, but spatial resolution limits have prevented it from being widely applied at the nanoscale. With billions of dollars of international investments in nanoscience and nanotechnology, the lack of IR nanospectroscopy technology leaves an enormous gap in needed characterization capabilities. This project will give researchers a robust capability to leverage the power of infrared spectroscopy over broad wavelength ranges and at resolution scales well below current limits. The WINS platform will enable a wide range of high resolution characterization in materials science and life sciences including correlation of morphological, chemical, mechanical and optical properties. Based on specific early customer measurement requests, we anticipate significant downstream benefits in areas including the development of advanced polymer materials, automotive materials, photovoltaics, materials for biofuels, textiles, printing and many other areas