Fritz Feigl Award for Georg Ramer
Author: CAVS
New publication in Analytical Chemistry
Check out our latest paper in Analytical Chemistry: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.5c03194 : “Not Just Better Resolution: A Detailed Study of the Signal Distribution in Mid-Infrared Optical Photothermal Imaging”
Data and code can be found on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15190267) , of course.
We took a closer look at the oPTIR signal and found: what you see is not what is really there. Most importantly: we demonstrate that an oPTIR setup that is perfectly focused onto an absorber will have NO signal.
Elisabeth Holub, Nikolaus Hondl, Sebastian Wöhrer, Bernhard Lendl, Georg Ramer
New publication in ACS Photonics
New Publication from the CAVS Group!
Our latest paper, “Single-Mode Ring Resonator-Based Optomechanical Transducers for Advanced Atomic Force Sensing,” is now published in ACS Photonics. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsphotonics.5c01914
This work introduces a single-mode microring resonator–based optomechanical transducer on an SOI platform, designed to overcome the fundamental limits of conventional AFM cantilevers. The single-mode configuration ensures mode stability, eliminates mode-splitting, and enables reliable, direct optical readout.
Coupled with a picogram-scale cantilever operating in the MHz frequency range, the device achieves displacement sensitivity approaching the quantum limit, providing an efficient and scalable solution for high-speed and high-sensitivity AFM. Its tunable mechanical frequency and stiffness allow precise adaptation across diverse nanoscale sensing applications.
The study demonstrates strong agreement between experiment and theory, establishing a robust optomechanical platform that bridges photonics and nanomechanics for next-generation AFM sensing.
This success was made possible through the excellent collaboration between CAVS Research Group, Centre for Advanced Photonics & Process Analysis (CAPPA), and Tyndall National Institute, combining expertise in nanophotonics, fabrication, and advanced optical measurements.
Congratulations to all co-authors — Yide Zhang, Artem Vorobev, Savda Sam, S. Hadi Badri, Mauro David, Liam O’Faolain, Bernhard Lendl, and Georg Ramer — on this achievement.
New Publication in ACS Measurement Science Au
Our recent paper “Method for Mid-IR Spectroscopy of Extracellular Vesicles at the Subvesicle Level” was selected for the front cover of ACS Measurement Science Au.
Read more about our work on AFM-IR of extracellular vesicles at https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.5c00001 .
Our thanks for this great collaboration go to Nikolaus Hondl, Lena Neubauer, Victoria Ramos García, Kuligowski Julia, Marina Bishara, Eva Sevcsik, Bernhard Lendl, Georg Ramer .
Welcome Margaux
Margaux recently completed her PhD in Physical-Chemistry at the AFM-IR Lab at the Institute of Physical-Chemistry and Paris-Saclay University in France, under the supervision of Ariane Deniset-Besseau and Dominique Bazin. Her work focused on the characterization of biomineralized samples with AFM-IR, with a strong emphasis on methodology implementation and chemometrics. She is now joining the CAVS group as a postdoc within the Cluster of Excellence (CoE) “microbiomes drive planetary health” project. Her role within the project will consist of working alongside CoE scientists to help them chemically explore and understand their objects of interest at the nanoscale and to develop novel techniques for nanoscale IR spectroscopy.
Optica Congress in Vienna
Gustavo Lukasievicz from our research group attended the Optica congress (Optica High-Brightness Sources and Light Driven Interactions Congress). The event presented several topics related to the latest advances in mid-IR laser technologies. The section “Mid-Infrared Coherent Sources (MICS)” presented particularly interesting talks related to the topics of interest to the CAVS Research Group. Mid-IR spectra provide spectroscopic fingerprints of samples, which can be exploited for the identification and quantification of target analytes in many different application scenarios. High-brightness sources are key to develop new sensing schemes beyond current state of the art, such as our new approach of photothermal lens spectroscopy applied to the detection of water traces in organic solvents.
Cool Takeaways 😎
- Fresh insights on mid-IR to THz-tech advancements.
- The impact of mid-IR sources on remote sensing and spectroscopy.
- New connections with pulsed laser suppliers for upcoming research.