A tunable short-pulse laser system that is the heart of the SFG microscope at NANOCHEM has been installed at AAU. Test experiments demonstrate SFG using probe beams both in the range of electronic resonances and in the infrared vibrational spectroscopy range.

Sum frequency generation spectroscopy is a surface and interface sensitive process. It yields high detection efficiency with a signal in the visible region. The method can have high time resolution and resolve the molecular orientation. As different selection rules apply it is complementary to linear spectroscopy and Raman.

The setup requires two incident laser beams that penetrate the medium to investigate. The signal is generated when the frequencies match discrete states in the medium and a sum frequency signal is emitted in the direction of the sum of the wavevectors of the incident beams.
Find out more here.

Just before Christmas, two of our scientists Jacek Fiutowski and Ayoub Laghrissi were recognized with BHJ Awards for their remarkable work:

🏆Young Researcher Award🏆
Dr. Ayoub Laghrissi shared the Young Researcher recognition with Dr. Ali Khosravi. Ayoub´s work focuses on:

• Pioneering chemical microscopy techniques for detecting nanoplastic particles in environmental samples, particularly water.
• Developing colloidal nanomachines for pollutant detection in water, advancing environmental monitoring and pollution control.
• Providing valuable insights into nanoplastics’ environmental impact and improving detection methods.

🏆 Innovation Award 🏆
Assist. Prof. Jacek Fiutowski received the Innovation Award together with Serkan Ayvaz, Krzysztof Sierszecki, and Casper Kunstmann, for their collaborative work on ‘Digitalisation in Environmental Monitoring’. Their achievements include:

• Developing advanced AI algorithms and smart sensors for improved water quality analysis and pollutant detection.
• Creating optical sensor technologies to enhance environmental assessments.
• Innovating digital and 3D-printed microfluidic systems for faster, more efficient sample processing.

Congratulations Ayoub Laghrissi and Jacek Fiutowski for these achievements!

We’re happy to announce that the NanoFTIR is installed in our labs! The instrument is ready for use.

The first new instruments arrived at SDU and were installed. Our confocal Raman microscope has a new 785 nm laser, NIR spectrometer and optical profilometer.