Infrared microcalorimetric spectroscopy using uncooled thermal detectors

摘要

The authors have investigated a novel infrared microcalorimetric spectroscopy technique that can be used to detect the presence of trace amounts of target molecules. The chemical detection is accomplished by obtaining the infrared photothermal spectra of molecules absorbed on the surface of an uncooled thermal detector. Traditional gravimetric based chemical detectors (surface acoustic waves, quartz crystal microbalances) require highly selective coatings to achieve chemical specificity. In contrast, infrared microcalorimetric based detection requires only moderately specific coatings since the specificity is a consequence of the photothermal spectrum. They have obtained infrared photothermal spectra for trace concentrations of chemical analytes including diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP), 2-mercaptoethanol and trinitrotoluene (TNT) over the wavelength region2.5 to 14.5 {micro}m. They found that in the wavelength region 2.5 to 14.5 {micro}m DIMP exhibits two strong photothermal peaks. The photothermal spectra of 2-mercaptoethanol and TNT exhibit a number of peaks in the wavelength region 2.5 to 14.5 {micro}m and the photothermal peaks for 2-mercaptoethanol are in excellent agreement with infrared absorption peaks present in its IR spectrum. The photothermal response of chemical detectors based on microcalorimetric spectroscopy has been found to vary reproducibly and sensitively as a consequence of adsorption of small number of molecules on a detector surface followed by photon irradiation and can be used for improved chemical characterization.