Issue 12, 2022

Photo induced force microscopy: chemical spectroscopy beyond the diffraction limit

Abstract

Over the last decade remarkable advances have been made in creating spectroscopic tools to interrogate surface properties using electromagnetic radiation in the near field, achieving lateral resolutions in the nanometre range. We review recent work involving one of the most promising of these spectroscopic tools, photo induced force microscopy (PiFM), which uses mechanical detection of dipole–dipole interactions enabling nanometre resolved mapping of surface properties ranging from vibrational modes of adsorbates to plasmon resonances. We discuss the origin of contrast in PiFM images, its applications as a local probe of chemical species and for mapping local electric fields in areas as diverse as zeolite films and biometric recognition. In comparison with related techniques such as photothermal atomic force microscopy-based infrared (AFM-IR) and tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) PiFM has many advantages but perhaps its most successful application is in combination with other surface characterisation methods which provide information averaged over much greater surface areas. We discuss the most recent developments of PiFM technology which are leading to higher resolution images and are widening the range of environments in which the technique can be applied, and we consider how the field is likely to progress in the future.

Graphical abstract: Photo induced force microscopy: chemical spectroscopy beyond the diffraction limit

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
14 Jan 2022
Accepted
29 Mar 2022
First published
05 Apr 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Chem. Front., 2022,6, 1552-1573

Photo induced force microscopy: chemical spectroscopy beyond the diffraction limit

J. A. Davies-Jones and P. R. Davies, Mater. Chem. Front., 2022, 6, 1552 DOI: 10.1039/D2QM00040G

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