Design of an instrument for far-infrared microspectroscopy using a synchrotron radiation source

Abstract

A design of a microspectrophotometric system using a synchrotron radiation (SR) source is described. The system covers a wide spectral range of 50–13000 cm−1, being under construction at the UVSOR BL6B beamline in the Institute for Molecular Science. Preliminary experiments in the mid-infrared region (500–5000 cm−1) have qualitatively confirmed the theoretical calculation that the synchrotron radiation is more intense than a blackbody (T=1200 K) when a microspectrophotomeric technique is applied, which is due to natural collimation and high brilliance of SR source. The SR as an infrared source exhibits its advantage on measuring the spectra of small single crystals especially in the far-infrared region.

Fourier transform infrared microscopy: some advances in techniques for characterisation and structure–property elucidations of industrial material†

“…The properties of infrared (and other) radiation emanating from electron storage rings are well published. [12][13][14][15][16] Synchrotron infrared radiation is highly collimated. It has very high brilliance and a much smaller source size, compared with a conventional source, and has very low thermal noise.…”

“…The combination of low divergence, small source size and brightness have been utilised to good effect in recent years to extend the capabilities of FTIR-microscopy. 13,[17][18][19][20][21][22] These features couple to improve the spatial resolution and increase the SNR of low étendue measurements. In conventional infrared spectroscopy applications, where étendue is not limited to a particularly low value, the cross-over point below which the synchrotron source delivers more light than a conventional source is in the far-infrared (ca.…”

Technical Report: The Diversity of Infrared Programs at the NSLS

“…Similar efforts to develop synchrotron-based IR microspectroscopy were ongoing at UVSOR in Japan at the same time [8]. The first commercial infrared microscope was installed at the NSLS a few years later [9].…”

“…Although it was understood that the brightness advantage of the synchrotron source extended into the mid-IR, the earliest demonstrations of its use for microspectroscopy did not occur until the early 1990s when, for example, a custom IR microscope was used (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and cryogenic temperatures in a diamond anvil cell. Results show that the unique low-temperature isostructural transition in ice VIII is a first-order thermodynamic transformation that arises from subtle phonon instabilities associated with an isostructural movement of molecules in the ice VIII structure.…”

High-resolution infrared spectroscopy with synchrotron sources

“…The highly collimated nature of SR means that more intensity can be focused through a small aperture, which is ideal for spectromicroscopy and other applications where it is desired to probe a sample with high spatial resolution. Infrared beamlines and the associated apparatus for such purposes have developed rapidly during the past 20 years [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”