Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Waltham, Mass., has launched a new imaging attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory, offering enhanced spatial resolution and high-speed data-acquisition capabilities for FT-IR chemical imaging applications. This is of particular benefit to processors of polymer films and coatings. When coupled with an FT-IR microscope, ATR permits exploring the microscopic structure of heterogeneous samples. Thermo Scientific’s imaging ATR accessory reportedly provides a much faster method than other ATR techniques. It simplifies the task of obtaining high-quality infrared spectra from samples that are difficult to prepare for transmission analysis. Defects, particles, fibers, or inks may be effectively analyzed, with spatial resolution improved by a factor of four relative to transmission measurements. The accessory quickly snaps into the sample holder of several Thermo Scientific Nicolet FT-IR microscopes.