ChemIONS

A new measurement technique which mingles the amazing resolution of atomic force microscopy and the exceptional chemical identification of infrared spectroscopy is been developed by researchers from University of Illinois! Researchers demonstrated that imaging extraction and chemical analysis of femto-gram samples can be achieved using a heated cantilever probe in an atomic force microscope. They used a silicon cantilever probe with an integrated heater-thermometer.

The cantilever tip temperature can be precisely controlled over a temperature range of 25 to 1,000 degrees Celsius. Using this special cantilever probe, anyone selectively image and extract a very small sample of the material to be analyzed. Also the actual mass of this sample can be determined by a cantilever resonance technique. For the analysis the sample, the heater temperature is raised to slightly above the melting point of the sample material. The material is then analyzed by complementary Raman or Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic imaging, which provides a molecular characterization

Well..This seems to me a much interesting community to share my thoughts. Being an organic chemistry student i feel i can start a blog on the topics that suits aspiring chemists seeking a research position in UK or in entire EU. I have been in this freternity for some reasonably long time of more than 5 years. Its better to share my experience now.....

Are U a fresh chemistry graduate? Thinking of joining for a PhD? then here are some tips which i can recollect based on my past experiences.

For those who wish to join for a PhD, my first advice is that be sure you are ENOUGH Motivated. Its a long term 'struggle' spaning your mid twenties or even more! Eventhough the grants and fellowships are fair enough to make an income for a PhD student (in EU), its hard to be in the turbulent stream of Research for more than 4 years. But this doesnt matter if you are enough motivated. After all the final 'Fruit' is yours! getting a prefix 'Dr' and building an excellent career there onwards is really exciting and much more eazy nowadays.

Finding an area of interest is your next