Custom Near-Field Nanoscopy Tool Images Materials at Nanoscale

A near-field infrared (IR) nanoscope and spectroscope, custom built by a research team at MIT, can quickly and economically probe the characteristics of diverse materials at the nanoscale. Also known as a scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope, or s-SNOM, the tool can identify a material’s internal properties, such as how its optical activity changes over minuscule distances. It can also provide a nanoscale view of individual molecules, researchers showed. The research team led by professor Long Ju focused an IR laser positioned on the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM), turning it into an antenna for amplifying the interaction between light and material. The AFM scans the surface of the material and...