The field of submicron spectroscopy in relation to surface science has changed through the last quarter of 2017. American company Anasys Instruments have developed the Mirage IR, which has well and truly changed the way that laboratories and academia can examine materials, and opened the way to more advanced submicron spectroscopy which both removes potential for error, as well as increases workflow capability.
The IR diffraction limit has always been a major limitation in relation to IR spectroscopy, and the Mirage IR submicron spectroscopy microscope overcomes this very well known bedbug to surface scientists in a very novel way. How, exactly? The specifics of which are known only to Anasys Instruments, as no other manufacturer on a worldwide scale has managed to do so.
In a nutshell, the Mirage IR submicron spectroscopy system overcomes known IR diffraction limits with a truly innovative technique. This technique has been developed specifically by Anasys Instruments, and concerns the same fundamental principle which is used in photothermal infrared spectroscopy.
This of course is completely new to submicron spectroscopy, and the research and development which has gone into this has been vast. The Mirage IR varies from other systems by the utilisation of a fully tunable pulsed mid-IR laser. This induces photothermal effects in the material sample, and the effects are then measured using probe lasers which are focused and tuned into the sample of which is tested.
Material viability, while a very valid concern in ATR spectroscopy, as photothermal spectroscopy is usually contact-based. Mirage IR is a different beast entirely, and collects fast and very accurate measurements without any contact – allowing surface scientists from both industry and academia to work freely, without limitation.
The Mirage IR can be obtained in the UK from Scanwel, the UK’s premier distributor of Anasys Instruments, and a very notable manufacturer of custom fabrications.
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