- Naixin Qian: Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
- Wei Min: Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA. Electronic address: wm2256@columbia.edu.
Biological systems with intrinsic complexity require multiplexing techniques to comprehensively describe the phenotype, interaction, and heterogeneity. Recent years have witnessed the development of super-multiplexed vibrational microscopy, overcoming the 'color barrier' of fluorescence-based optical techniques. Here, we will review the recent progress in the design and applications of super-multiplexed vibrational probes. We hope to illustrate how rainbow-like vibrational colors can be generated from systematic studies on structure-spectroscopy relationships and how being colorful makes a difference to various biomedical applications.