What Is Tapping AFM-IR?

A diagram depicting the basics of AFM-IR functionality,
 courtesy of Anasys Instruments.

Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy is one of the most fascinating aspects of surface science, and Tapping AFM-IR is a subject which is very commonly being mentioned within it. A development and innovation of the very well respected Anasys Instruments, Tapping AFM-IR is widely considered one of the very most advanced developments in Nanoscale Infrared Technology, thanks to the impressive ability to provide superior spatial resolution for chemical imagery and overall improvement on historic methods.

In short, Tapping AFM-IR is much more accurate, much quicker, and much more gentle than previous methods, showing marked improvement in absolutely all ways when compared with historic methods. Tapping AFM-IR is a large benefit to research, and has overcome older methods, rendering them entirely obsolete.

This in turn extends the applications of Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy by removing the limitations it has historically suffered. As such, this refreshed way of doing things is considered to have opened up Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy to a far broader sample of experimentation. Essentially, Tapping AFM IR addresses a gigantic range of material types, and extends the application of IR Spectroscopy to life sciences, nanoparticles, and the imaging of soft polymer materials when before it simply wasn’t viable.

The added viability to the testing of these materials thanks to Tapping AFM-IR is simply unparalleled. Add the fact that resonance-enhanced AFM-IR has proven monolayer sensitivity, enabling chemical analysis on the thinnest of surface layers. Laboratories favour Tapping AFM-IR because chemical imaging speed is also increased by 10 times, without any loss of performance or accuracy whatsoever. Essentially, with this method, high resolution imaging is much quicker. When High res is simply not needed, the power of Tapping AFM-IR can be utilised to collect data faster.

Tapping AFM-IR today is one of the most utilized imaging modes throughout the AFM community, thanks to increased accuracy, faster times, as well as creating a whole range of applications which simply were not possible before it. As such, the technology has become largely supported by the community, with operator training kept at an absolute minimum.

Time to data has never been quicker, or easier, and this technology is entirely and utterly here to stay with Tapping AFM-IR being utilised by a large amount of research facilities, laboratories, and academic institutions worldwide.