It has been said that time seems to move faster the older you get, and judging by how quickly we have reached the end of 2009, I would say this cliché is certainly valid. With the holiday season just around the corner, 2009 is nearing a close, and even though this may mean vacation time and more time away from work for many, for those in the field of spectroscopy, this time of year (ironically) has always meant an uptick in conference and symposia activity.
It has been said that time seems to move faster the older you get, and judging by how quickly we have reached the end of 2009, I would say this cliché is certainly valid. With the holiday season just around the corner, 2009 is nearing a close, and even though this may mean vacation time and more time away from work for many, for those in the field of spectroscopy, this time of year (ironically) has always meant an uptick in conference and symposia activity.
David Walsh
With the annual FACSS Conference taking place in Louisville, Kentucky, October 18–22 (see Spectroscopy's "FACSS Preview" in this issue for more coverage), the ball begins rolling on a series of industry events. After November's Eastern Analytical Symposium and Exposition, held November 16–19 in Somerset, New Jersey, the industry takes a quick breath for the holidays and moves straight on to the IFPAC Conference in Baltimore in January and then, of course, Pittcon 2010 in Orlando, Florida, next February. In short, spectroscopists and other industry professionals will be getting a lot of exercise in the coming months.
And as you travel to these conferences and others this fall and winter, Spectroscopy can be your primary resource for staying up to date on the market and the latest technical developments. With a LinkedIn group that is now over 600 strong providing constant news, discussions, and technical information, this is the perfect way to stay current, whether you're traveling to Louisville, Orlando, or any points in between. We would invite any and all of our readers to join this group at their convenience, and in addition, to take a look at our homepage, which will be undergoing something of a facelift later this year as well.
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this month's continuing coverage of the hottest topics in the field of spectroscopy. With a technical article on Raman analysis of lipids and proteins, along with further research on LIBS analysis of lead in children's toys and other items, we continue to do our best to bring you the most useful and pertinent technical information. Enjoy.
David Walsh
Editor-in-Chief
Getting accurate IR spectra on monolayer of molecules
April 18th 2024Creating uniform and repeatable monolayers is incredibly important for both scientific pursuits as well as the manufacturing of products in semiconductor, biotechnology, and. other industries. However, measuring monolayers and functionalized surfaces directly is. difficult, and many rely on a variety of characterization techniques that when used together can provide some degree of confidence. By combining non-contact atomic force microscopy (AFM) and IR spectroscopy, IR PiFM provides sensitive and accurate analysis of sub-monolayer of molecules without the concern of tip-sample cross contamination. Dr. Sung Park, Molecular Vista, joined Spectroscopy to provide insights on how IR PiFM can acquire IR signature of monolayer films due to its unique implementation.
Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy Reveals Influence of Defects on 2D Semiconductor Devices
April 25th 2024A recent study used deep level transient spectroscopy to investigate the electrical response of defect filling and emission in monolayer metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown materials deposited on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible substrates.