MRI: Acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscopy-Infrared Spectroscopy (AFM-IR) System for Multidisciplinary Research and Education

非技术描述：原子力显微镜-红外光谱（AFM-IR）系统使研究人员能够以纳米精度对样品进行成像，同时收集化学、光学、机械和表面形态信息。这为多学科分析开辟了令人兴奋的新可能性，并使研究人员能够将他们的研究扩展到新的科学方向，并回答纳米级的高级基础科学和工程问题。仪器的多功能性、非破坏性和在受控条件下操作的能力（例如，温度、水合作用等）使其适用于从脆弱的生物系统到刚性和工程材料的广泛使用。AFM-IR代表了一种新兴的技术。在印第安纳州普渡大学印第安纳波利斯分校（IUPUI），该仪器通过提供跨学科科学发现、劳动力培训以及在教学和K-12推广工作中的使用能力，为来自四所学校（科学、工程技术、医学和牙科）的教师和学生提供支持。重要的是，它在IUPUI的集成纳米系统开发研究所共享的纳米级表征设施中的位置允许AFM-IR作为外部和行业用户的资源，以促进整个地区的创新和合作。技术描述：通过将原子力显微镜、纳米级红外光谱和散射型扫描近场光学显微镜结合在一个平台上，所获得的AFM-IR系统能够实现形态和机械特性以及化学和光学特性的超快成像和纳米级映射。后者是红外光束聚焦到AFM针尖上的结果，并且检测材料的耗散（通过光热膨胀引起的悬臂梁偏转）或背散射信号以产生纳米级光谱数据。在柔软和/或生物样品中容易引起偏转，而较硬的样品可以散射足够量的光。总之，这创造了一个强大的工具，用于表征从软到硬的样品，并能够执行高光谱成像（在每个像素处获得完整的红外光谱，空间分辨率为10 nm）或不同波数的吸收图，同时保留了系统所构建的全功能原子力显微镜的功能。因此，AFM-IR为一组研究人员提供服务，目前的研究范围包括新型生物纳米传感器、纳米载体和用于能源应用的纳米材料的设计/表征，以及配体损伤、骨负荷和伤口愈合的基础生物学，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，更广泛的影响审查标准。

Nontechnical Description:An Atomic Force Microscopy-Infrared Spectroscopy (AFM-IR) system enables researchers to image samples with nanometer precision while collecting chemical, optical, mechanical and surface morphology information at the same time. This opens exciting new possibilities for multidisciplinary analysis and allows investigators to extend their research into new scientific directions and answer advanced fundamental science and engineering questions at the nanoscale. The instrument's versatility, non-destructive nature, and ability to operate under controlled conditions (e.g., temperature, hydration, etc.) make it suitable for widespread use with materials that range from delicate biological systems to rigid and engineered materials. AFM-IR represents a new and emerging technology. At Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the instrument supports faculty and students from four schools (Science, Engineering & Technology, Medicine, and Dentistry) by providing capabilities for interdisciplinary scientific discovery, workforce training, and use in teaching and K-12 outreach efforts. Importantly, its placement within the Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute's shared nanoscale characterization facility at IUPUI allows the AFM-IR to serve as a resource for external and industry users to boost innovation and collaboration throughout the region. Technical Description:By combining atomic force microscopy, nanoscale infrared spectroscopy, and scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy in a single platform, the acquired AFM-IR system enables ultrafast imaging and nanoscale mapping of morphological and mechanical characteristics, as well as chemical and optical properties. The latter are the result of an IR beam being focused onto an AFM tip, and either the dissipation of the material (via cantilever deflection caused by photothermal expansion) or the backscattered signal is detected to yield nanoscale spectroscopic data. Deflection is easily induced in soft and/or biological samples, whereas harder samples can scatter a sufficient amount of light. Together, this creates a powerful tool for characterizing samples that span soft to rigid, and enables the ability to perform hyperspectral imaging (where a complete infrared spectrum is obtained at every pixel, at a spatial resolution of 10nm) or absorption maps at different wavenumbers, all while retaining the capabilities of the full-featured atomic force microscope that the system is built around. As a result, the AFM-IR serves a team of investigators with current research spanning the design/characterization of novel bionanosensors, nanocarriers, and nanomaterials for energy applications, to the fundamental biology of ligand damage, bone loading, and wound healing, to industrial process development.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.