Anasys Instruments Corp. — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: AFM-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) pioneered by Dazzi et al provides ~100X improveme

Description

AFM-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) pioneered by Dazzi et al provides ~100X improvement in spatial resolution over conventional infrared microspectroscopy, enabling chemical analysis at the nanoscale. It has already been successfully applied to many applications, including polymer composites and films, photonic devices, organic photovoltaics, fuel cell membranes, and bacteria for biofuels applications and other energy applications. One of the key disadvantages of current AFM-IR instruments is that they require expensive tunable infrared laser sources, with prices ranging from $100-$300K. This high source cost drives the AFM-IR system cost to $350-$500K, exceeding the budget range of most researchers who could benefit from its capabilities. Anasys Instruments proposes to develop a new low cost mid-IR source to enable a low cost and high performance AFM-IR instrument, operable over the full mid-IR wavelength range. We will target a source price of & lt;$10K, more than 10-30X less expensive than conventional IR sources for nanoscale spectroscopy. To achieve this goal, we will (1) leverage previous technical achievements that enable the use of low intensity IR sources; and (2) develop new technology to modulate the intensity of the IR source at frequencies that provide efficient detection by the AFM. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The proposed instrument will provide low cost chemical analysis at the nanoscale. Specifically, it will provide: (1) ~100X improved spatial resolution compared to convention infrared microspectroscopy; (2) & gt;2X lower cost than current AFM-IR spectroscopy that will double the addressable market; (3)AFM-IR to DOE and other synchrotron light sources for ~50X higher spatial resolution synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy. By dramatically reducing the cost of infrared nanospectroscopy (currently affordable only to multi-billion dollar companies and top-tier universities), this project will make a powerful new analytical technique much more widely available, thus accelerating science and industry in energy, advanced materials, life sciences and many other areas.