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Chemical Imaging

Chemical imaging is the ability to create a visual image of the composition, structure, and dynamics of any given chemical sample. The goal of chemical imaging is to gain a fundamental understanding of complex chemical structure and processes with time-dependent spatial and functional characterization in four dimensions (space and time).

Optical Spectroscopy Imaging

A suite of optical spectroscopic instruments provide chemical imaging at length scales from the nanoscale to the macroscale.  Some are coupled with scanning probes, and others with scanning confocal microscopes.  Gated detection (50 ps) and pump-probe spectroscopy (40 fs) provide ultrafast temporal mapping of dynamics on some instruments.

Electron Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Electron spectroscopy techniques probe a sample with wavelengths much smaller than that of visible light and provide high-resolution chemical and structural information below surfaces of materials. Imaging mass spectrometry utilizes energetic probes (i.e, ion, laser, heat, etc.) to remove material from a sample surface in a spatially resolved manner and analyze the molecular or elemental composition of the sample based on the mass to charge ratio both on the surface and in the bulk.