Purchase of an Ultrafast Optical Laser System

在化学研究仪器和设施(CRIF)计划的这一奖项下，华盛顿大学化学系将为一个超快光学光谱中心购买超快激光和其他设备。该设备将加强若干领域的研究，包括a)凝聚态材料中光学和非线性光学现象的表征；b)植物和光合细菌捕捉太阳光能量的能量转移和电子转移的研究；c)含卤素化合物的动力学研究；d)各种线性和圆形DNA以及DNA/蛋白质复合体的扭曲和弯曲动力学的研究。超快光谱使科学家能够研究发生在皮秒(10^-12)和飞秒(10^-15)时间范围内的化学物质。在这些极短的时间尺度上，原子移动，原子之间的键被打破或形成。超快光学技术可以研究反应过程中的化学反应动力学。超快光谱提供的化学反应的详细图像使研究人员能够探索植物如何获取太阳能，创造新的更高效的光电材料，并了解许多环境过程中的基本步骤。简而言之，超快光谱学有望揭开化学反应的微观细节。

With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Program, the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington will acquire ultrafast lasers and other equipment for an ultrafast optical spectroscopy center. This equipment will enhance research in a number of areas including a) the characterization of optical and nonlinear optical phenomena in condensed matter materials; b) studies of energy transfer and electron transfer by which plants and photosynthetic bacteria capture the energy of sunlight; c) investigation of the dynamics of halogen-containing compounds; and d) studies of the twisting and bending dynamics of various linear and circular DNAs and DNA/protein complexes. Ultrafast spectroscopy allow scientists to investigate chemistry that occurs in the picosecond (10^-12) and femtosecond (10^-15) time regimes. On these extremely short timescales, atoms move and bonds between atoms are broken or formed. Ultrafast optical techniques allow for the investigation of chemical reaction dynamics during the course of the reaction itself. The detailed picture of chemical reaactivity provided by ultrafast spectroscopy has allowed researchers to explore how plants harvest solar energy, to create new and more efficient optoelectronic materials, and to understand the fundamental steps in many environmental processes. In short, ultrafast spectroscopy holds the promise of unraveling the microscopic details of chemical reactivity.