For more than 20 years, researchers have been using atomic
force microscopy (AFM) to measure and characterize materials at the nanometer
scale. However AFM-based measurements of chemistry and chemical properties of
materials were generally not possible, until now.
Researchers at the University Illinois report that they have
measured the chemical properties of polymer nanostructures as small as 15 nm,
using a novel technique called atomic force microscope infrared spectroscopy
(AFM-IR). The article, “Atomic force microscope infrared spectroscopy on 15nm
scale polymer nanostructures,” appears in the Review of Scientific Instruments
84, published by the American Institute of Physics.