The Golden Gate ATR makes routine analysis of small single fibres easy, overcoming the limitations of conventional ATR and transmission measurements.
Polarized attenuated total reflection (ATR) infrared spectroscopy is an efficient technique to determine the orientation and conformation of a large variety of samples, but it is more difficult to apply to very small specimens such as silk fibers. The Golden Gate single-reflection ATR accessory that uses diamond as an ATR element and a focalized beam turns out to be highly efficient to study quantitatively the orientation and conformation of a single silk fibroin filament of the silkworm Bombyx mori that is about 10 µm in diameter.
For orientation measurements, rotating the sample instead of the electric field greatly simplifies the theoretical analysis and keeps the penetration depth of the infrared radiation constant. A sample holder that can be fitted on the ATR accessory has thus been developed to allow accurate rotation of the sample and to obtain spectra with a low, non-damaging, and reproducible pressure on the fiber.
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