摘要： The orientation of molecules is of central importance in determining the photophysical properties of organic materials, such as mobility of charge carriers and ions. These orientation-dependent properties of materials further control their functionalities in biological systems and electronic devices, including organic light-emitting diodes and solar cells. Until now, optical crystallography has failed to yield high-resolution images of molecular arrangement, due to the diffraction-limited response, weak photon–material interaction between x-rays and organic materials, or sample damage. A group of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed a new mapping technique called infrared scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (IR s-SNOM), which can identify the molecular arrangement of subdomains smaller than hundreds of nanometers.