Automatic confocal Raman spectroscopy coupled with atomic force microscopy (AFM)

This new hybrid system: confocal Raman spectroscopy coupled with atomic force microscopy allows packaging materials to be examined in great detail and means that the make-up, structure and composition of laminated films can be very accurately determined. The surface microstructure of materials can now be characterized down to the nanometer level.

The Raman spectrometer, similar to an infrared spectrometer, records atomic vibrations. The sample is irradiated with monochromatic light and the scattered light is spectroscopically analyzed. Due to the coupling of a Raman spectrometer with an atomic force microscope, spectroscopic and topographic analyses can be carried out on the same sample region.

Confocal Raman spectroscopy –
3-D contact-free determination of chemical properties:  

Raman spectroscopy allows material-specific atomic vibrations to be analyzed with high spatial resolution and without complex sample preparation.

Example applications:

• Contact-free analysis of materials
• Analysis of laminated films – structure, make-up,
  layer thickness
• Determination of the crystallinity

Topographic analysis of surfaces using atomic force microscopy (AFM):

Analysis of the topography and roughness of material surfaces at the nanometer level.