Laser direct infrared imaging

Laser direct infrared imaging (LDIR) is an infrared microscopy architecture that utilizes a tunable Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) as the IR source.^[1] This new reflectance-based architecture eliminates coherence artifacts typically associated with QCLs. It also allows the acquisition of large-area, high-definition IR images as well as high signal-to-noise point spectra. Extending this architecture using Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) allows the acquisition of high fidelity spectra from features less than 10 μm in size.^[2]

The application of LDIR to stain-free biochemical imaging has recently been reported,^[3] with the authors citing the speed of LDIR imaging as an advantage over traditional IR imaging architectures.

References

1. Hoke, C.; Beregovski, Y.; Ghetler, A.; Han, Y.; Moon, C.; Tella, R. (2015). "Laser Direct IR Imaging - A New Paradigm for Mid-IR Spectroscopic Imaging." (PDF). Proceedings of SciX 2015 (FACSS XLII), Providence, Rhode Island, 569.
2. Hoke, C.; Beregovski, Y.; Ghetler, A.; Han, Y.; Moon, C.; Tella, R.; Zhang, Z. (2016). "Advances in Laser Direct IR Imaging". Proceedings of SciX 2016, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 16IR07.
3. Tiwari, S.; Raman, J.; Reddy, V.; Ghetler, A.; Tella, R.; Han, Y.; Moon, C.; Hoke, C.; Bhargava, R. (2016). "Towards Translation of Discrete Frequency Infrared Spectroscopic Imaging for Digital Histopathology of Clinical Biopsy Samples". Analytical Chemistry. 88 (20): 10183–10190. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.6b02754. PMID 27626947.