5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  NEMS-FTIR enables rapid measurement of submicrometer aerosol chemistry from nanogram-scale samples in minutes.

• 2

  The method uses ultrathin silicon nitride resonators for both sampling and detection, enhancing sensitivity.

• 3

  Detection limits for organic functional groups are significantly lower than previous methods, ranging from 1.3 to 5.4 ng.

• 4

  Field tests demonstrated the ability to capture short-term changes in aerosol composition in various environments.

• 5

  The technology allows for high temporal resolution analysis of aerosol particles using tethered balloons.