Purchase of an Ultrafast Laser System for Materials Chemistry

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multiuser program (CRIF:MU), the Department of Chemistry at the University of California - Riverside will acquire an amplified femtosecond laser system with broad wavelength coverage -- from the ultraviolet (270 nm) to the near infrared (2.6 micron). The laser system will be used by researchers at Riverside to study the time-resolved spectroscopy of interesting chemical and materials systems. Some the topics to be studied include: (1) the time-resolved spectroscopy of neutral radical conductors; (2) the charge dynamics in nanostructured semiconductors; (3) the properties of molecular materials under high pressure; (4) the diffusion and reactivity of hot adsorbates on metal surfaces and (5) exciton dynamics in organic semiconductors. The laser system will be used by large numbers of undergraduate and graduate students, both in instructional settings as well as in research. Significant numbers of the student users at this Hispanic Serving Institution are members of groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.Ultrafast laser systems, like the one purchased under this award, allow chemists to probe the dynamics of chemical and physical processes at precisely the time scales for important chemical and physical processes -- from the making and breaking of chemical bonds, to the vibrations of individual atoms and the relaxation of excited electrons. The ability of chemists to observe these processes allows them to develop a better understanding of how molecules and materials work. This kind of knowledge can be used to make new or better materials or devices.