Infrared nanospectroscopy : AFM-IR
The AFM-IR technique is the result of a coupling between IR spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM), allowing to overcome the diffraction limits of conventional IR microscopes. The AFM-IR approach is based on photothermal and photoacoustic detection [Dazzi2017], which enables lateral resolutions on the order of a few nanometers. Over the past decade, the AFM-IR technique has gradually evolved from a "proof of concept" technique to a more standardized method. Its applications are extremely diverse, spanning fields such as nanomaterials science, biology, medicine, geology, and ancient materials. Most of the instruments used by the team are grouped on the MUSIICS platform.
From left to right: Schematic of the technique, AFM-IR data obtained from model eukaryotic cells (AFM image, chemical image showing protein distribution in cells, and local IR absorption spectra).
Methodological and Instrumental Developments
Alexandre Dazzi (Professor), Jérémie Mathurin (Research Engineer), Carla Collange (Doctoral Student)
Patented in 2007, the AFM-IR technique is continuously evolving to meet new scientific needs and experimental constraints imposed by samples [Mathurin2023]. Our team is at the forefront of developing new measurement configurations and proposing innovative methodologies for sample preparation and data processing.
Multi-scale Characterization of Ancient Materials
Alexandre Dazzi (Professor), Jérémie Mathurin (Research Engineer), Antoine Vite (Doctoral Student)
Ancient materials pose the dual challenge of complexity and preciousness. Within the team, we are developing an original multi-scale approach to explore the physicochemical characteristics of these samples and their evolution over time. This work is carried out in close collaboration with IPANEMA (UAR3461) [Reynaud2020].
Multi-scale Study Applied to Biology and Biomedicine
Ariane Deniset-Besseau (Associate Professor), Jérémie Mathurin (Research Engineer), Dominique Bazin (Senior Researcher)
This research area is at the interface of physics, biology, and medicine. It focuses on the study of physicochemical processes at various scales, ranging from protein assemblies to biological tissues. This work is conducted in close collaboration with physicians (APHP: Tenon, Rothschild, Necker Hospitals) and biophysicists (INRAE) from leading institutes in the field [Khzam2023, SerayUral2022, Deniset-Besseau2021, Esteve2020].
Nanometric Scale Study of Astromaterials
Jérémie Mathurin (Research Engineer), Alexandre Dazzi (Professor), Laure Bejach (Doctoral Student)
Our team is a pioneer in the application of the AFM-IR technique for astromaterial analysis. We were selected to lead AFM-IR measurements during the initial analysis phase of samples from the Hayabusa2 space mission [Nakamura2022, Barrosch2022, Yabuta2023, Dartois2023], [Kebukawa2023]. This work also led to funding for a unique system dedicated to astromaterial analysis in a controlled environment (PEPR ORIGINS).
Collaborations
Emmanuel Dartois and Ruxandra Gref (ISMO Orsay), Cécile Engrand (IJCLab Orsay), Marie-Joëlle Virolle (I2BC Orsay), Gaël Latour (LOB Palaiseau), Human Rezaei (INRAE Jouy-en-Josas), Jean Duprat and Laurianne Robinet (MNHM Paris), Clotilde Policar and Nicolas Delsuc (ENS, Paris), Hester Colboc (Rothschild Hospital, Paris), Emmanuel Letavernier (Tenon Hospital, Paris), Maguy Cherfan (Novo Pontoise Hospital), Guillaume Andrieu (Necker Hospital, Paris), Christophe Sandt (Synchrotron Soleil, Gif-sur-Yvette), Mathieu Thoury (IPANEMA Gif-sur-Yvette), Bénédicte Bakan (INRAE Nantes), Olivier Goncalves (GEPEA St Nazaire), Frank Palmino (FEMTO-ST Institute Besançon), Alexandra Der Halle (IMRCP Laboratory, University of Toulouse), Eric Lesniewska (ICB Dijon), Jonathan Colombet (UCA, Clermont-Ferrand), Philippe Leclère (University of Mons, Belgium), Yoko Kebukawa (Yokohama National University, Japan), Natalia Piergies (Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland), Volha Shapaval and Achim Kohler (NMBU AS Norway), Georg Ramer (TU Wien, Vienna, Austria), Vincent Raussens (ULB Brussels, Belgium), Keyron Hickman-Lewis (NHM UK), Peter Lasch (RKI Berlin, Germany), Oxana Klementieva (Lund University, Sweden)