Theoretical Investigation of Tip-Based Nanoscale Infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract

The ability to conduct the chemical analysis of materials with the nanoscale spatial resolution has been a long term thrust in many science and engineering communities. Although several techniques such as chemical force microscopy [1] and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy [2] have been developed for the nanoscale chemical analysis, there still exist technical challenges in routinely achieving a full spectrum of chemical information at the nanoscale. The main objective of this study is to propose a novel tip-based nanoscale infrared (IR) spectroscopy by combining the atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy.