Development of a Scanning Near-field Infrared Microscope Based on a Free Electron Laser

基于自由电子激光器的扫描近场红外显微镜的研制

• 批准号: 9408129
• 负责人: Shyamsunder Erramilli
• 金额: $ 36.5万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-07-15 至 1996-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9408129&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Development; Scanning; Near; field; Infrared

Funds are provided for the development of a state-of-art scanning near-field infrared microscope that involves the use of highly collimated, tunable infrared sources such as free electron lasers. This instrument is expected to have many applications in both materials science and biological systems, because it combines the exquisite spectral resolution of infrared spectroscopy with high-resolution imaging down to 0.05 micrometers without compromising on the frequency resolution of conventional IR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the intrinsically large characteristic absorption coefficients in the infrared mean that it is possible to obtain images with contrast as large as 1 part in 105 without resorting to any staining procedures. The proposed microscope should satisfy a long-felt need for an imaging technique that is capable of non-destructive identification of the chemical composition of surfaces. %%% It has long been appreciated that the combination of infrared spectroscopy with imaging would provide a valuable technique for examining surfaces non-destructively. However, the promise of this technique was limited by the poor spatial resolution set by the long wavelengths of the infrared radiation when used with conventional imaging techniques. In this work, the recent breakthroughs in optical near-field scanning probe microscopy, and the availability of highly collimated, tunable infrared sources such as free electron lasers, are used to construct an infrared near-field microspectroscope that can achieve a spatial resolution of 0.05 micrometers. This novel instrument has the potential for revolutionizing the characterization of materials.

提供资金用于开发一种最先进的扫描近场红外显微镜，该显微镜涉及使用高度准直的可调谐红外光源，如自由电子激光器。该仪器预计将在材料科学和生物系统中有许多应用，因为它结合了红外光谱的精细光谱分辨率和低至0.05微米的高分辨率成像，而不会影响传统红外光谱的频率分辨率。此外，红外线中固有的大的特征吸收系数意味着可以获得对比度高达1/105的图像，而无需采取任何染色程序。拟议的显微镜应满足长期以来需要的成像技术，是能够非破坏性的识别表面的化学成分。 长期以来，人们一直认为红外光谱与成像的结合将为非破坏性地检查表面提供有价值的技术。然而，当与传统成像技术一起使用时，这种技术的前景受到红外辐射的长波长所设定的差的空间分辨率的限制。在这项工作中，最近的突破，光学近场扫描探针显微镜，和高度准直，可调谐的红外光源，如自由电子激光器的可用性，被用来构建一个红外近场显微光谱仪，可以实现0.05微米的空间分辨率。这种新型仪器具有彻底改变材料表征的潜力。