To explore new frontiers in nanomaterials, researchers should be equipped with the ability to characterize nano-, bio- and semiconducting-materials beyond just nanoscale topographical features. In order to tailor properties of nanomaterials and their interfaces with polymers and biological macromolecules, the existing research efforts on the Rensselaer campus for the synthesis and processing of new materials will be greatly enhanced by having access to the much-needed chemical and vibrational spectroscopy information pertaining to local morphology with 10 - 100 nm resolution available from the requested system. By combining the power of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy for the characterization of nanostructured materials on a single in-situ characterization platform, the proposed confocal Raman-AFM instrument will enhance our understanding on the nanoscale domains and interfaces in nanomaterials to promote unique opportunities of designing novel nanomaterials for nano- and bio-technology applications.
Material researchers working at the frontiers of nanotechnology and biotechnology applications need to have both chemical and structural information in small-size (i.e. nanoscale) domains that are million times smaller than the size of a human hair. A unique aspect of materials research for nanotechnology and biotechnology is the highly pronounced ratio of surface area to volume present in many materials with nanoscale heterogeneous structures (i.e. nanomaterials), which not only opens doors to developing new surface/interface-based science and technology, but also demands understanding of material properties at the interfaces and on the surfaces. A nondestructive and high-resolution analysis is now possible to characterize both chemical composition and surface/interface structure in the nanoscale region by measuring the change in the color of the incident light beam and imaging the small region of nanomaterials using a sharp-tip probe at the same time. This is very much like listening to a song from an old-fashioned gramophone player using a sharp-tip and a compact disk player using a laser light at the same time. Such unique tool will provide invaluable information for the advancement of materials research particularly to tailor the properties of nanomaterials at their interfaces with polymers and proteins.
