Anasys
Instruments is pleased to announce that their nanoIR™ platform, a
powerful new measurement tool that reveals the chemical composition of samples
at the nanoscale, has been selected to receive a prestigious R+D 100 Award.
The Anasys nanoIR™ system
The editors of R&D Magazine have announced the winners of the 48th Annual
R&D 100 Awards, which salute the 100 most technologically significant products
introduced into the marketplace over the past year. “The launch of our
nanoIR technology has generated lots of attention in spectroscopy and microscopy
communities worldwide. The additional recognition by an external panel of experts
through the R&D 100 award is very exciting,” explains Kevin Kjoller,
Anasys Instruments’ co-Founder and VP of Product Development.
“With the nanoIR product we sought to overcome two major barriers--fundamental
spatial resolution limits in convention infrared microspectroscopy and the lack
of chemical characterization in atomic force microscopy (AFM). With this breakthrough
we've exceeded spatial resolution in IR spectroscopy by more than an order of
magnitude and can now do local chemical characterization and identification
with the probe tip of an AFM,” says Craig Prater, Chief Technology Officer
of Anasys. In addition to revealing chemical composition, the nanoIR system
provides high-resolution characterization of local topographic, mechanical,
and thermal properties. nanoIR is providing a new tool to help facilitate materials
and life science research at the nanoscale.
“Infrared microspectroscopy has already proven itself extremely valuable
for addressing a wide range of problems in science and industry,” says
Dr. Curtis Marcott, senior partner at Light Light Solutions, a leading spectroscopy
consultancy firm. “I’m excited about the new technology from Anasys,
as it will let us break through the submicron spatial resolution barrier and
apply IR spectroscopy to new classes of problems beyond our current capabilities.”
Dr. Marcott is the president-elect of the Society of Applied Spectroscopy and
a retired research fellow from Procter & Gamble.
The nanoIR system is the result of several million dollars of government and
private investment. Anasys Instruments was awarded $2.6 million in research
grants from the NIST Advanced Technology Program and the National Science Foundation.
U.S. and foreign patents are pending.
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
Anasys website.