MRI: Acquisition of a Nano-Infrared Spectrometer

MRI：购买纳米红外光谱仪

• 批准号: 1919887
• 负责人: Scott Warren
• 金额: $ 46.77万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1919887&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Nano; Infrared; Spectrometer

Non-Technical Description: The surfaces of materials play a central role in determining their properties and performance. In applications ranging from energy storage to medicine to computation, scientists need to understand the composition and structure of surfaces to explain their behavior and improve their characteristics. These surfaces include the interfaces found within batteries, the proteins on the surface of a cell, and the interfaces in new kinds of plastics. Understanding surfaces and interfaces is a challenge, however, because the composition and structure of surfaces can vary over tiny distances. These tiny distances can be just one-billionth of a meter, called a nanometer, and the structures may contain just one hundred atoms. To overcome this challenge, the instrument acquired through this Major Research Instrumentation grant is allowing far deeper insight into surfaces by combining a tool that measures composition, called infrared spectroscopy, with a tool that measures nano-sized structures. The resulting instrument, called a nano-infrared spectrometer, enables scientists to study many complex surfaces in detail. This new understanding is enabling important advances in numerous areas of science and technology. In addition, this instrument is providing graduate, undergraduate, and high school students - including those in underrepresented groups - with access to and training on the instrument. The instrument is housed in a shared instrument facility in the Chapel Hill Analytical Nanofabrication Laboratory (CHANL) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where the instrument provides hands-on opportunities for training, education, and research. Technical Description:Traditional infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool that provides deep insight into the composition of materials, but its poor spatial resolution has limited its applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. To overcome this challenge, the instrument acquired combines IR microscopy with an atomic force microscope (AFM) to measure IR spectra with a spatial resolution of approximately 10 nm. This new tool allows the composition of heterogeneous surfaces to be studied, such as the distribution of proteins on the surface of cells or the interfaces in organic photovoltaics. A distinctive feature of this nano-IR system is the use of multiple quantum cascade lasers as a light source. Collectively, these lasers operate from 800 1/cm to 3600 1/cm, which is an unusually broad range. This range facilitates measurements of many common functional groups, from C-F at 800 1/cm to O-H and N-H at 3600 1/cm. This new capability is allowing complex surfaces to be measured, such as the electrode/electrolyte interface in batteries, where the composition varies on the 10-nm length scale. The ability to discern spatial variations in the chemical functionality of battery electrodes will allow fundamental insight into, for example, mechanisms of degradation. The uses of the nano-IR spectrometer extend beyond measuring functional groups. For example, the instrument is enabling studies on plasmonic nanostructures, where the AFM tip is used to map the spatial distribution of the plasmonic component. These diverse capabilities allow nano-IR to have applications that extend from nanophotonics to electrochemistry to cellular biology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

非技术描述：材料的表面在决定其特性和性能方面起着核心作用。在从能量存储到医学再到计算的应用中，科学家需要了解表面的组成和结构，以解释它们的行为并改善它们的特性。这些表面包括电池内部的界面、细胞表面的蛋白质以及新型塑料中的界面。然而，理解表面和界面是一个挑战，因为表面的组成和结构可以在微小的距离上变化。这些微小的距离可能只有十亿分之一米，称为纳米，这些结构可能只包含一百个原子。为了克服这一挑战，通过这项重大研究仪器资助获得的仪器通过将测量成分的工具（称为红外光谱）与测量纳米结构的工具相结合，可以更深入地了解表面。由此产生的仪器，称为纳米红外光谱仪，使科学家能够详细研究许多复杂的表面。这一新的认识使许多科学和技术领域取得了重要进展。此外，这一工具还为研究生、本科生和高中生----包括代表性不足群体的学生----提供使用该工具的机会和培训。该仪器位于北卡罗来纳州大学查佩尔山的查佩尔山分析纳米纤维实验室（CHANL）的共享仪器设施中，该仪器为培训，教育和研究提供了动手的机会。传统的红外（IR）光谱是一种强大的工具，可以深入了解材料的组成，但其较差的空间分辨率限制了其在纳米科学和纳米技术中的应用。为了克服这一挑战，所获得的仪器将红外显微镜与原子力显微镜（AFM）相结合，以大约10 nm的空间分辨率测量红外光谱。这种新工具允许研究异质表面的组成，例如蛋白质在细胞表面或有机光致发光中的界面上的分布。这种纳米红外系统的一个显着特点是使用多个量子级联激光器作为光源。总体而言，这些激光器的工作范围从800 1/cm到3600 1/cm，这是一个非常宽的范围。该范围便于许多常见官能团的测量，从800 1/cm的C-F到3600 1/cm的O-H和N-H。这种新功能允许测量复杂的表面，例如电池中的电极/电解质界面，其中成分在10 nm的长度范围内变化。辨别电池电极的化学功能的空间变化的能力将允许对例如降解机制的基本洞察。纳米红外光谱仪的用途超出了测量官能团。例如，该仪器能够对等离子体纳米结构进行研究，其中AFM针尖用于绘制等离子体成分的空间分布。这些不同的能力使纳米红外有从纳米光子学的应用延伸到电化学细胞biology.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。