Acquisition of a Tunable, 10-fs and 100-fs Laser Spectroscopy System for Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science and Physics

这笔拨款支持购置超短脉冲、宽可调谐激光设备，用于研究微纳米结构材料中的电子和声子动力学。该设备包括一个钛蓝宝石振荡器，一个用于振荡器的再生放大器，以及一组可用于振荡器-放大器组合的两个光学参量放大器。组合激光系统提供从紫外到中红外波长范围内的多个强相干脉冲流，脉冲持续时间为100 fs。这个超快实验室的可用性使独特的实验成为可能，包括：电子-电子相关研究、相变的飞秒动力学、相干声子产生、纳米结构中的光谱空穴燃烧、仿生纳米结构中光合过程的光谱学研究、半导体中快速非辐射过程的研究以及亚细胞分辨率的光学相干层析成像。最初的项目包括研究人员，他们有大量的研究经费，对所有这些主题进行研究。除了提案中提到的共同研究人员外，范德比尔特大学、菲斯克大学和邻近本科院校的其他几个学院和部门的科学家和工程师也将使用该设施。该项目将通过联合研究人员和相关博士后学者讲授的为期两周的超快光谱学相关学分强化培训课程，加强教学、培训和学习。这对于有效利用该设施是必要的，但也将有助于丰富我们的研究生课程，并为招收新用户提供场所。通过菲斯克大学的教师和学生的参与，代表性不足的群体的参与将得到加强，范德比尔特大学的许多共同项目负责人已经与菲斯克大学建立了合作研究安排。通过向合格的用户提供这种独特的资源，超快激光设施将大大增强田纳西州中部目前的研究基础设施。研究结果的广泛传播将不仅通过常规的科学场所（会议、讲习班、研讨会和座谈会），而且还将通过范德比尔特大学的互联网网络杂志《探索》进行，该杂志由大学新闻和公共事务部门的全职专业人员组成。从生物医学工程到半导体科学等领域都有望对社会产生益处。

This grant supports the acquisition of an ultrashort-pulse, broadly tunable laser facility for the study of electron and phonon dynamics in micro- and nanostructured materials. The facility includes a titanium:sapphire oscillator, a regenerative amplifier for the oscillator, and a set of two optical parametric amplifiers that can be used by the oscillator-amplifier combination. The combined laser systems supply multiple streams of intense, coherent pulses over a wavelength range from ultraviolet to mid-infrared, with pulse duration of 100 fs, The unique experiments made accessible by the availability of this ultrafast laboratory will include: studies of electron-electron correlations, femtosecond dynamics of phase transitions, coherent phonon generation, spectral hole burning in nanostructures, optical spectroscopy of photosynthetic processes in biomimetic nanostructures, studies of fast nonradiative processes in semiconductors, and optical coherence tomography with sub-cellular resolution. The initial program involves researchers with substantial research funding carrying out studies on all of these topics. In addition to the co-investigators named in the proposal, scientists and engineers from several other schools and departments at Vanderbilt, Fisk and neighboring undergraduate institutions are expected to use the facility. The project will enhance teaching, training and learning through an associated for-credit, two-week intensive training course in ultrafast spectroscopy taught by the co- investigators and associated post-doctoral scholars. This is necessary for effective use of the facility, but will also serve to enrich our graduate curriculum and provide a venue for recruitment of new users. Participation from underrepresented groups will be enhanced through the participation of faculty and students from Fisk University with whom many of the Vanderbilt co-PIs have established collaborative research arrangements. By making available this unique resource to qualified users, the ultrafast laser facility will significantly enhance the current infrastructure for research in Middle Tennessee. Broad dissemination of the results will be ensured not only through the usual scientific venues (conferences, workshops, seminars and colloquia), but also through Vanderbilt's Internet Webzine, Explorations, which is staffed by full-time professionals from the University's Division of News and Public Affairs. Benefits to society can be expected in fields ranging from biomedical engineering to semiconductor science.