Tunable Carmina at UNSW Australia

Carmina integrated within Brukers nanoIR System Enables Advanced 2D Materials Research at University of New South Wales

(This is a reprint article originally published by Bruker Nano Surfaces Division, 2020)

Bruker’s Nano Surfaces Division reports the groundbreaking use of a nanoIR3-s Broadband™ system [including APE’s Carmina tunable laser system] at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Centre for Advanced Solid and Liquid based Electronics and Optics (CASLEO) to provide new insights into phonon-polaritons (PhPs) in thin layered crystals of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) on SiO₂/Si wafers. Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh’s multidisciplinary group combined scattering-SNOM single-wavelength imaging and broadband scattering IR nanospectroscopy to resolve features in near-field amplitude spectra that had never been observed previously. Their research systematically studied the near-field auxiliary signatures on the hBN layers between supported and suspended boundary conditions. Such detailed information about influence from local boundaries has enormous implications for engineering and creating nanophotonic heterostructures for advanced sensing applications.

Dr. Jiong Yang (left) and Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh (right) with their Bruker nanoIR3-s Broadband system at UNSW CASLEO. (Photo Credits: Bruker).

“The capability of the nanoIR3-s Broadband exceeded our expectations,” enthused Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh. “The signal-noise-ratio is superb. As such, we could obtain spectra as clear as spectra of a conventional FTIR at nanoscale resolutions. Excitingly, we could see new vibrational features that are generated by the boundaries that have not been reported previously.”

“The wavenumber range of the nanoIR3-s Broadband is from 670 cm^-1 to 4,000 cm^-1 which is beyond any other system in the market, allowing us to observe spectra that have not been seen by other researchers,” added Dr. Jiong Yang. “The system’s stability, combined with the exceptionally high-power broadband laser, leads to new horizons in nanoscale spectroscopy.”

“We designed the nanoIR3-s Broadband system to comprehensively address the requirements for nanoscale FTIR broadband spectroscopy and high-resolution imaging for a wide range of demanding applications,” explained Dean Dawson, Bruker’s Sr. Director and Business Manager, nanoIR Products. “We are delighted that Professor Kalantar-Zadeh’s excellent team at CASLEO has put the system so quickly through its paces for such impactful research.”

About nanoIR3-s Broadband

The nanoIR3-s Broadband system provides a unique capability for nanoscale imaging and spectroscopy over the entire mid-infrared spectral range (2.5 to 15 μm / 4000 to 670 cm^-1) by coupling with a broadband light source based on a novel femtosecond OPO/DFG laser [Carmina by APE]. While featuring high laser power and wide spectral range, this laser source can also switch its linewidth for imaging and spectroscopy. Ultimately, the system provides the highest performance spectroscopy and imaging for 2D/graphene materials, while enabling nanoscale material property mapping and sample environmental control options.

About the UNSW CASLEO

The Centre for Advanced Solid and Liquid based Electronics and Optics (CASLEO) has a mission to create novel materials and systems that have impacted and will continue to influence the well-being of people for the better. In the past, the members of CASLEO have proven their capabilities in developing systems that have significantly influenced the areas of liquid metals, sensors, electronic materials, optics, microfluidics, and medical devices. Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh, the director of the centre, has already led his group to the invention of the first ingestible chemical sensor that was successfully tested in humans. The concept of liquid metals as reaction media was coined by Kourosh and his group. Additionally, the first report on chemical vapour deposition of two-dimensional metal chalcogenides also originated from his group. Kourosh is one of the 2018 Australian Research Council (ARC) Laureate Fellows, and is also a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET). CASLEO also receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia.

This article was originally published by Bruker Nano Surfaces Division, Stephen Hopkins, steve.hopkins(at)bruker.com

Further links:

nanoIR3-s Broadband™  (external link, you are leaving APE’s webpage)

Carmina Tunable Laser Source for SSNOM & AFM-IR Applications