POWRE: The Use of Stark Spectroscopy to Probe Molecular Excited States in the Condensed Phase

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This award of the Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) program funded through the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) supports the research and educational activities of Professor Linda Peteanu of Carnegie-Mellon University. The research aims to extend the techniques currently existing in her laboratory to a new area, materials science, and to augment her experimental work with electronic structure calculations. Electroabsorption measurements will be made on polar polyenes using Stark-effect spectroscopy.The opportunity afforded through the POWRE program will enhance Professor Peteanu's research potential as well as her educational mentoring of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scientists. Peteanu's investigations will explore the source of discrepancies between experimentally measured and computed electronic properties for polar polyenes, which can be large if solvation effects are not adequately accounted for. The results of this research will provide a better understanding of the non-linear optical properties of polymers and glasses. This work could ultimately benefit not only manufacturing but also an understanding of the photochemistry of biological molecules in a protein environment.