A 20-year journey on the invention of vibrational photothermal microscopy

Vibrational microscopy opens a new window onto understanding life at the molecular level. Yet the vibrational signals from chemical bonds are weaker than the fluorescence signal from a dye by many orders of magnitude. Detecting such weak signal from a tight focus under a microscope is extremely chal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature methods Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 883 - 885
Main Author Cheng, Ji-Xin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.05.2025
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects
631/1647/245/2226
631/57
Bioinformatics
Biological Microscopy
Biological Techniques
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology
Careers
Chemical bonds
Comment
Inventions
Life Sciences
Microscopes
Microscopy
Proteomics
Vibratory communication
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Summary:Vibrational microscopy opens a new window onto understanding life at the molecular level. Yet the vibrational signals from chemical bonds are weaker than the fluorescence signal from a dye by many orders of magnitude. Detecting such weak signal from a tight focus under a microscope is extremely challenging. I have devoted my career to overcoming such a daunting barrier through the development of advanced chemical microscopes over the past 25 years. In this historical Comment, I am honored to share my journey of serendipity-driven innovation and entrepreneurship in the growing field of chemical imaging, with a focus on the invention of vibrational photothermal microscopy.
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ISSN:1548-7091
1548-7105
1548-7105
DOI:10.1038/s41592-025-02619-0