Beamline Phone Number:
+44 (0) 1235 778684
Principal Beamline Scientist:
Dr Gianfelice Cinque
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 778410
E-mail: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)1235 56 7675
The working principle of AFM-IR spectroscopy is based on the unification of the mechanical sensitivity of AFM detection - enhanced in resonance - with the chemical sensitivity of IR spectroscopy:
In the present setup the photothermal expansion is detected using AFM in a resonance-enhanced contact mode. Resonance enhancement can improve the signal by bringing the modulation frequency of the light in resonance with the frequency of the cantilever. In order to do so, for a quasi-continuous source, such as SRIR, a fast chopper is required.
Together with Celeroton, Switzerland, a bespoke magnetic levitating vacuum chopper system was developed by B22 beamline staff at DLS. This allows to reach modulation frequencies of up to 200 kHz, corresponding to the second contact resonance of widely used AFM tips.
A detailed description of the chopper setup has been published in:
The method is most suitable for biological samples (e.g. mammalian or plant cells), as the whole
mid-IR range can be studied and the full thickness of samples on the order of 1 micron is probed.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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