FTIR imaging spectroscopy

Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy as well as Raman spectroscopy are well established as methods for structural analysis of compounds in solution or when adsorbed to surfaces or in any other state. Analysis of the spectra provides information of qualitative as well as of quantitative nature. Very recent developments, FTIR imaging spectroscopy as well as Raman mapping spectroscopy, provide important information leading to the development of novel materials. If applied under optical near-field conditions, these new technologies combine lateral resolution down to the size of nanoparticles with the high chemical selectivity of a FTIR or Raman spectrum. These techniques now help us obtain information on molecular order and molecular orientation and conformation [1],... 

Subsequent plasma treatment, modified development processes or lower beam energy during lithography are promising possibilities to produce pores totally free of polymer. Any progress can sensitively be indicated by FTIR spectroscopic imaging. The identification by FTIR imaging spectroscopy of the chemical reasons for the for-... 

Keywords Focal Plane Array FTIR Imaging Infrared spectroscopy Polymer blends... 

McNaughton, D. and Wood, B.R. (2007) Applications of FTIR imaging in cancer research. Chap. 2 in New Approaches in Biomedical Spectroscopy, Vol. 963 (eds K. Kneipp, R. Aroca, H. Kneipp and E. Wentrup-Byme), ACS Symposium Book Series, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 14-29. 

This section introduces a novel application of IR spectroscopy, namely IR imaging, and the specific sampling technique of attenuated total reflectance (ATR). FTIR imaging in ATR mode allows one to visualize the spatial distribution of different components in polymeric materials and to study directly the effect of high-pressure CO2 on this distribution. This novel approach should benefit polymer scientists studying polymer blends and their processing with SCCO2. 

Other uses of an IR microscope in forensic analysis include the examination of fibers, drugs, and traces of explosives. For example, oxidation of hair can occur chemically or by sunlight oxidation of cystine to cysteic acid can be seen in hair fibers by FTIR microscopy (Robotham and Izzia). Excellent examples in full color of FTIR imaging microscopy can be found on the websites of companies like PerkinElmer and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Our limitations in use of gray scale make many of the examples unsuited for reproduction in the text. A novel IR microscope combined with atomic force microscopy, the nanoIR platform from Anasys Instruments (www.anasysinstruments.com), permits nanoscale IR spectroscopy, AFM topography, nanoscale thermal analysis, and mechanical testing. 

FTIR imaging suffers from low signal to noise compared to other types of FTIR spectroscopy and microspectroscopy [106,107]. However, the major sources of error in an imaging system arise from detector noise and not from optical components of the imaging system (for example, apertures). The major factors in this regard are ... 

There are a number of approaches to allow infrared microspectroscopic investigations of polymers. While interferometer based approaches dominate the instrumentation in general, other approaches may be effective in specihc cases or when dedicated instrumentation examining a limited range of problems is desired. FPAs, employed to achieve spatial discrimination as in FTIR imaging or spatial and spectral discrimination as in dispersive and hlter approaches, provide flexibility and faster spectroscopy due to their multichannel detection advantage. Many new approaches to microspectroscopy are dedicated to achieving spatial resolution better... 

Infrared microspectroscopy has been reviewed [436,444 47] and theory and applications have been described in several recent books [393,417-419], An introduction to step-scan FTIR is available [448]. The role of IR and Raman microscopy/ microprobe spectroscopic techniques in the characterisation of polymers, their products, and composites was reviewed [449]. McClure [450] has described NIR imaging spectroscopy and a recent review on time-resolved studies of polymers by mid-and near-infrared spectroscopy has appeared [451]. Near-infrared microspectroscopy and its applications have been reviewed [452]. 

M. J. Walsh, A. Hammiche, T. G. Fellous, J. M. Nicholson, M. Cotte, J. Susini, N. J. Fullwood, P. L. Martin-Hirsch, M. R. Alison and F. L. Martin, Synchrotron FTIR Imaging for the Identification of Cell Types within Human Tissues, in WIRMS 2009 Proceedings of the 5th Int l Workshop on Infrared Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Accelerator Based Sources , A. Predoi-Cross and B. E. Billinghurst, eds. (AIP Conf. Proc. 1214, p. 105). 

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