However, even at this early stage, NAM-IR exhibits several extraordinary features; the time necessary for preparing a sample for IR spectroscopy is no more than a few minutes with this method, a drastic improvement from the ∼2 days that is typically needed for freeze-drying of a sample for ATR-FTIR, which is still considered state-of-the-art within IR spectroscopy. With respect to the necessary amount of sample, NAM-IR also outmatches ATR-FTIR, requiring only picograms of deposited sample as opposed to milligrams. NAM-IR spectra closely resemble those of ATR-FTIR and can be obtained at similar resolutions.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Maksymilian Kurek for the cleanroom support. Financial support from the Villum Foundation's Young Investigators Programme (project no. VKR023125) and the Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence “NAMEC” (contract no. 65286) is gratefully acknowledged.