Nanoscope
Specialized microscopes that can image individual atoms have opened up the
nanometer-scaled world to scientists. But existing scanning probe
microscopes, which move an extremely fine tip along a surface, are able
only to map the topography of the atomic world; they cannot easily
distinguish between different compounds.
To overcome this chemical blindness, scientists at Max Planck Institute in
Martinsried, Germany, have built a scanning microscope able to perform
infrared (IR) spectroscopy-a common analytical technique that exploits the
characteristic IR absorption of different compounds. The tip of the
microscope is positioned just above the sample and is illuminated by an
infrared beam; the tip then senses the IR absorption of the sample beneath
it. The Max Planck researchers have identified different polymers with a
resolution of 100 nanometers, and hope to achieve resolution as fine as 10
nanometers.
