Introduction

The infrared beamline, so called Beamline 4.1: IR, has been constructed and developed to provide infrared microspectroscopy technique in a spectral range of mid-infrared (4,000 - 400 cm^(-1)) to public users since 2010. With the synchrotron radiation emitted from electrons traveling at nearly speed of light forced changing their direction by the bending magnet of Siam Photon Source I (SPS-I), it offers high-brilliance and collimation of the SR beam coupled with Vertex 70 spectrometer and Hyperion 2000 IR microscope (Bruker) to enable the analysis at diffraction limited spatial resolutions from 5 to 20 microns on microscopic samples, for example, single biological cells, complex biological systems, old paints, and thin films.

Infrared microspectroscopy is a non-destructive and versatile experimental technique to study chemical and structural information based on the vibrations of molecular bonds in samples. An infrared spectrum is obtained depending on what chemical bonds are contained in the sample in a various range from biological, materials, and forensic science as well as geological, environmental and heritage science. 

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The advantage of synchrotron-based FTIR microspectroscopy over the conventional source is the small focused beam enabling acquisition on spatially resolved chemical information from each spot at better spatial resolution and high signal to noise ratio of the resulting spectra.