Researchers at the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics have created a novel laser technology to analyze molecular composition for biological samples. Ferenc Krausz leads a team of researchers from the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics (LAP), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ). Their system is capable of obtaining spectra of infrared light to reveal molecular compositions of a variety of samples with unprecedented sensitivity.
The laser spectrometer design was optimized from technologies originally developed in the LAP for ultrashort laser pulses (ULPs). These ULPs are used to investigate ultrafast dynamics of subatomic systems and is designed to emit powerful pulses of laser light that cover a broad segment of the spectrum in the infrared wavelength. These extremely brief flashes of infrared light cause the bonds that link atoms together to vibrate. The vibrating molecules will begin to emit coherent light at characteristic wavelengths. Every compound in the sample will vibrate at a specific set of frequencies give a chemical fingerprint to identify.
Marinus Huber, biologist in Mihaela Zigman's group and joint author, explained: "Unlike mass spectroscopy, this method provides access to all the types of molecules found in biological samples".