IMR: Acquisition of Tunable Ultrafast Light Source for Materials Research and Student Training

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The award from the Instrumentation for Material Research programs (IMR) will be used to acquire instrumentation for a tunable ultrafast light source. The equipment, combined with an existing fixed-wavelength amplified femtosecond laser system, will provide wavelength-tunable (0.3-10 um) pulses of 100-femtosecond duration and powers approaching 1 GW. When combined with currently available capabilities for terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, the apparatus will provide ultrafast light pulses tunable over a spectral range from the near UV to the far infrared. This coherent light source will permit a variety of experimental approaches to probing materials using time-resolved and nonlinear spectroscopic techniques. Initial research will focus on the application of these experimental capabilities to the following three broad themes: (i) charge transport in insulators: electron-phonon coupling and polarons; (ii) charge transport in nanostructures; and (iii) vibrational spectroscopy of nanostructure interfaces. The scientific results will be of significance not only in their immediate disciplines of condensed-matter and materials physics, but also have the potential to influence several important technologies. The equipment will dramatically enhance capabilities for research, education, and collaboration at Case Western Reserve University. It will also impact undergraduate and high-school students in the Cleveland and Northeast Ohio area through ongoing outreach and education programs. %%%This grant will fund the acquisition of a light source for measuring how novel materials respond to rapid light pulses. The equipment will provide variable wavelength pulses of very short duration and extremely high power. When combined with currently available capabilities the apparatus will provide ultrafast light pulses from the near ultra-violet to the far infrared. This will permit a variety of experimental approaches to probing materials such as insulator and semiconductor nanostructures. The scientific results will be of significance not only in their immediate disciplines of condensed-matter and materials physics, but also have the potential to influence several important technologies. The equipment will dramatically enhance capabilities for research, education, and collaboration at Case Western Reserve University. These capabilities will also impact undergraduate and high-school students in the Cleveland and Northeast Ohio area through ongoing outreach and education programs.***