AFM-IR: Technology and Applications in Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemical Imaging
Alexandre Dazzi and Craig B. Prater
Key points
- AFM-IR breaks the FTIR diffraction limit by 100x enabling nanoscale IR spectroscopy
- A rapidly emerging technique, AFM-IR shows wide adoption on a wide range of materials and applications
- AFM-IR provides direct correlation to FTIR techniques enabling nanoscale FTIR, and provides 10nm spatial resolution for chemical imaging over a wide range of material
Abstract
Atomic force microscopy-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) is a rapidly emerging technique that provides chemical analysis and compositional mapping with spatial resolution far below conventional optical diffraction limits. AFM-IR works by using the tip of an AFM probe to locally detect thermal expansion in a sample resulting from absorption of infrared radiation. AFM-IR thus can provide the spatial resolution of AFM in combination with the chemical analysis and compositional imaging capabilities of infrared spectroscopy.
This article briefly reviews the development and underlying technology of AFM-IR, including recent advances, and then surveys a wide range of applications and investigations using AFM-IR including those in polymers, life sciences, photonics, solar cells, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and cultural heritage.
Polymeric Films, Monolayers and Blends
Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy
Measure spatially varying physical and chemical properties with nanoscale spatial resolution
