Thermo Fisher Scientific Introduces Enhanced Research FT-IR Spectrometer for Ultra-Fast, High Sensitivity Analyses

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in analytical instrumentation announces a series of comprehensive enhancements to its Nicolet™ 8700 research Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer. These new features provide scientific researchers involved in R&D, method development and analytical services with an ultra-fast, high sensitivity infrared spectroscopic tool.

Continuing with significant developments in research FT-IR spectrometers, the newly enhanced Thermo Scientific Nicolet 8700 is capable of capturing details of ultra-fast chemical and biochemical reaction process, probing the stereochemistry of biological molecules and determining the structure of thin molecular films. These solutions result in the system being of particular benefit to the rapidly growing fields of biochemistry and nanotechnology.

The Nicolet 8700 features a new electronics and communication interface, providing faster data acquisition, larger phase modulation amplitude and greater overall step-scan performance, further enhancing the capabilities of the system for the study of chemical kinetics and dynamic modulation processes.

The Nicolet 8700 is supported by the introduction of a new compact module for Vibrational Circular Dichroism (VCD) Spectroscopy and Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (IRRAS) based on the patented technology. VCD is a rapidly growing technique for the study of chiral molecules. This new module provides significantly greater optical throughput than previous designs, thereby allowing much shorter data acquisition times.

IRRAS allows the study of molecular films from both small and large samples with continuously variable reflection angles on the module. The available larger format of this module, TOM (tabletop optical module), is particularly useful for the study of Langmuir-Blodgett films on water and thin coatings on semiconductor wafers.

Further enhancing the range of FT-IR products, data from the Nicolet 8700 can be fed directly into the new high speed, imaging quality Thermo Scientific OMNIC SpectraCorr™ two-dimensional IR analysis software. New features of SpectraCorr include the calculation of global phases, extraction of spectral profiles from a 2D contour map and display and printing functions to present 2D data as suggested by the classic reference papers. In addition, OMNIC now features a photoacoustic (PAS) linearization algorithm which enhances surface analysis capabilities of PAS and removes artifacts from the photoacoustic spectra for better quantitation.