Introduction and new trends

The vibrational spectroscopy area is currently undergoing a series of developments that are promising a revolution in many fields. If conventional infrared, terahertz, and Raman spectroscopy are already used with success for multiple purposes, the possibility to dramatically increase resolution (time and spatial) and acquisition time opens a completely new horizon for potential applications of these methods. The materials, space, and biomedical sciences are probably the leading edge areas that are being promoting the development of these techniques that in some situations are moving toward the concept of methods combination (e.g., atomic force microscopy and infrared). Recent developments focused largely in increasing the spatial resolution, thus enhancing applications on the micro- and nanoscale, boosting the field of microscopy vibrational spectroscopy. Cancer diagnosis, intracellular trafficking for drug delivery, and real-time single cell molecular analysis are within the pharma/biomedical sciences some examples, and among the most promising applications of these novel developments of vibrational spectroscopy. It can be envisaged that these developments can have a major impact on other areas, such as that related with agro-food applications, for example, in what concerns the analysis of plant varieties and cultivars.