SCIENCE SEMINAR

Date      : September 8, Monday

Time      : 14:00

Place     : SCI 103

Refreshments will be served at 13:45

Curtis Marcott

“Expanding Applications for AFM-based Infrared Nanospectroscopy”

Abstract

Atomic force microscope-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) has been developed in recent years providing extremely high spatial resolution chemical characterization and imaging. The technique is based on the combination of a tunable infrared laser with an atomic force microscope that can locally map and measure thermal expansion of nanoscale regions of a sample resulting from theabsorption of infrared radiation. Because the AFM probe tip can map the thermal expansion on very fine length scales, the AFM-IR technique provides a robust way to obtain interpretable IR absorption spectra at spatial resolution scales well below the diffraction limit. The technique also provides simultaneous and complementary mapping of mechanical properties and has been widely and successfully applied to applications in polymers and the life sciences. Most previous AFM-IR measurements have been performed using total internal reflection illumination from below the sample,generally requiring samples to be prepared as thin sections transferred to an IR transparent prism. We have recently extended the AFM-IR technique to work in a "top side illumination" configuration. The top side illumination enables a much broader range of samples to be measured and can in some cases dramatically simplify sample preparation. Using top side illumination we have been able tomeasure samples including semiconductors, metal films, geological samples and others.

Biography

Curtis Marcott is currently a Senior Partner at Light Light Solutions, a spectroscopic consulting firm. A former research fellow at Procter & Gamble, Curt was the 2011 President of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Applied Spectroscopy. He is a past member of the editorial advisory boards of Analytical Chemistry and Vibrational Spectroscopy, the A-page advisory panel of Analytical Chemistry, and the board of managers of the Coblentz Society. He served as program committee chairman for the 2009 FACSS Conference and the Sixth International Conference on Advanced Vibrational Spectroscopy (ICAVS-6). Dr. Marcott received the 1993 Williams-Wright Award from the Coblentz Society for achievement in vibrational spectroscopy, was named the 2001 Cincinnati Chemist of the Year, and is an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Curt obtained his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1979.