SBIR Phase I: NanoIR: Infrared Chemical Spectroscopy at the sub-20 nm Scale

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将探索新的科学和技术，以实现低于20纳米空间分辨率的红外（IR）光谱和成像。常规红外光谱是研究和工业中的基准工具，提供丰富的化学特定信息。由于光学衍射的限制，传统的红外光谱的分辨率仅限于几微米，阻止了其在纳米级研究和开发中的广泛应用。 该项目旨在使用一种创新的、正在申请专利的基于探针的技术来测量衍射极限以下的红外吸收，从而大大超过当前的分辨率极限。 利用先前在纳米级红外光谱学方面的投资，该团队将确定将空间分辨率和灵敏度提高到以前工作的10倍（以及与商业红外显微镜相比提高250倍）的可行性。 为了实现这些目标，该项目团队将开发高灵敏度的纳米级探针、超灵敏的检测电子器件和复杂的数据分析算法，以将红外光谱扩展到20 nm以下的长度尺度。 分辨率和灵敏度的突破将为一系列科学和商业关键问题提供新的解决方案，如下所述。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是大大提高红外光谱的分辨率，这是最广泛使用的化学表征和鉴定分析技术，构成了10亿美元的产业。红外吸收光谱给出了关于分子结构的关键信息，并导致红外光谱在不同领域的广泛采用。 全球对纳米科学和纳米技术的日益重视导致了对设计、表征和制造具有小于100 nm长度尺度的物理和化学结构的复杂材料的需求不断增长。 传统红外光谱的分辨率限制使商业和研究界缺乏进行纳米级化学测量的关键表征能力。 填补表征工具集中的这一关键空白将大大加快依赖纳米级化学分析和成像的领域的技术和商业进步速度。 研究表明，当分辨率达到20 nm以下时，纳米级IR将得到最广泛的采用。纳米红外光谱的可用性将对材料开发和基础研究产生巨大影响。 关键应用包括聚合物共混物的表征、多层薄膜、光致发光和太阳能电池、有机LED、制药和生命科学以及生物燃料研究。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will explore new science and technology to enable infrared (IR) spectroscopy and imaging with sub-20 nm spatial resolution. Conventional IR spectroscopy is a benchmark tool in research and industry, providing rich chemically specific information. Due to optical diffraction limits, the resolution of conventional IR spectroscopy is limited to a few microns, preventing its broad application to nanoscale research and development. This project aims to dramatically surpass the current resolution limits using an innovative, patent-pending probe based technique to measure IR absorption below the diffraction limit. Leveraging prior investments in nanoscale IR spectroscopy, the team will establish the feasibility of improving spatial resolution and sensitivity by a factor of ten over previous work (and a factor of 250 versus commercial IR microscopy). To achieve these goals, the project team will develop high-sensitivity nanoscale probes, ultrasensitive detection electronics and sophisticated data analysis algorithms to extend IR spectroscopy to the sub-20 nm length scale. The resolution and sensitivity breakthroughs will enable new solutions to a broad range of scientifically and commercially critical problems as outlined below.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be dramatically improved resolution of infrared (IR) spectroscopy, which is the most widely used analytical technique for chemical characterization and identification, and which constitutes a $1 billion industry. Infrared absorption spectra give critical information about molecular structure and have led to broad adoption of IR spectroscopy in diverse fields. The increasing global emphasis on nanoscience and nanotechnology has led to a growing need to design, characterize, and manufacture complex materials with physical and chemical structures on the sub-100 nm length scale. The resolution limits of conventional IR spectroscopy have left business and research communities lacking critical characterization capabilities for making nanoscale chemical measurements. Filling this critical gap in the characterization toolset will substantially accelerate the rate of technological and commercial advances in fields which depend on chemical analysis and imaging at the nanoscale. Research has indicated that the broadest adoption of nanoscale IR will occur when the resolution reaches the sub-20 nm range. Availability of nanoscale IR spectroscopy will have dramatic impacts on materials development and basic research. Critical applications include characterization of polymer blends, multilayer thin films, photovoltaics and solar cells, organic LEDs, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, and biofuels research.