Lanthanide Optical Spectroscopy

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Dr. Fredrick Richardson is supported by a grant from the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program to continue his research on the electronic structure, optical and magneto-optical spectroscopy, and coordination properties of lanthanide ions and complexes in solution and in the solid state. This research will have practical applications in the design of lanthanide-based optical materials for lasers, the use of lanthanide ions as structural probes for biological systems, and the characterization of lanthanide coordination properties in solution. The primary emphasis of Richardson's research is on the properties and processes associated with the lanthanide 4f electrons and their interactions with ligand and crystal fields, magnetic fields, and radiation fields. Richardson is attempting to develop quantitative relationships between optical properties, electronic state structure, coordination number and geometry, and ligand structure of lanthanide complexes containing polyatomic ligands, multidentate chelate structures, and functionally specific ligand substituents that influence optical properties in specific ways. Two-photon absorption and electronic Raman scattering experiments will investigate ligand-field interactions and states not accessible to study by one-photon optical absorption and emission techniques. Chiroptical measurements will also be used to study detailed state structure of several classes of systems.