Anasys Instruments' AFM-IR system has been recognized by Microscopy Today in the receipt of the 2011 Innovation Award. It was presented to CEO, Roshan Shetty, at the 2011 M&M Annual conference held this year in Nashville, TN.

The AFM-IR technique was developed by Dr. Alexandre Dazzi at the University of Paris-Sud. It uses an AFM probe as the IR absorbance detector and hence obtains IR spectroscopy at up to 2 orders of magnitude better than traditional IR spectroscopy. It also provides the AFM with true chemical ID capability which has long been the ‘holy grail' for this community.

Commenting on the impact of AFM-IR which led to the award, internationally-recognized spectroscopist, Dr Curtis Marcott, Senior Partner at Light Light Solutions and the 2011 President of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, said "the combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy as manifested in the new technique of AFM-IR is one of the most important recent developments in the important field of IR microspectroscopy and chemical imaging."

He went on to say, "the importance of IR spectroscopy to our scientific infrastructure needs no introduction given the size of the industry and the breadth of its application. However, the fundamental physical limit imposed by diffraction has prevented the use of this important technology to applications requiring high spatial resolution which is the case for many of the exciting new issues in polymers and the life sciences."

Potential nanoIR application areas include polymer blends, multilayer films and laminates, organic defect analysis, tissue morphology and histology, subcellular spectroscopy, and organic photovoltaics. For further details, please visit the company website (www.anasysinstruments.com).