MRI: Acquisition of a Femtosecond Mid-Infrared Spectrometer

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。有了这个来自重大研究仪器（MRI）计划的奖项，爱达荷州大学化学系将获得飞秒中红外光谱仪。该仪器将具有在许多类型的超快光谱测量中常见的核心组件。它将实现设计功能，使不同的实验配置之间的过渡变得容易，以便可以容纳各种各样的实验。最初，PI正在计划四个非常不同的实验。RNA折叠中的快速事件将使用相干二维红外光谱（2D-IR）进行研究。 2D-IR还将用于区分同芳香族分子中的平衡结构和共振结构。该仪器将用于表征中红外光子通过散射介质的迁移。还将研究激光光解后亚硝酰化合物的超快红外瞬态吸收光谱。飞秒中红外光谱仪是一种在电磁光谱的红外区域工作的超快光谱仪。 超快激光技术的进步使得亚100飞秒激光脉冲的使用更加常规。 随着该领域的不断发展，人们逐渐认识到皮秒或更短时间尺度上的分子现象的重要性。可以说，化学中一些最基本的过程（例如，键断裂和形成、电子转移等）在超快时间尺度上发生。 此次收购将利用仪器在超快光谱学领域的极端多功能性。 该仪器是开发强大的超快光谱能力的计划的一部分，以刺激许多研究计划，并为与西北地区国家实验室和大学的同事合作提供基础。 与西北地区有兴趣使用该仪器的研究人员进行了一些合作。 作为一个教育机构，工作的各个方面将由研究生，选择本科生和博士后作为他们的学术经验的一部分。 这将在不断发展的超快方法领域提供丰富的培训经验。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, the Chemistry Department at The University of Idaho will acquire a femtosecond mid-IR spectrometer. The instrument will have core components that are common in many types of ultrafast spectroscopic measurements. It will implement design features that will ease the transition between different experimental configurations, so that a wide array of experiments can be accommodated. Initially, the PIs are planning four very different experiments. Fast events in RNA folding will be studied using coherent two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D-IR). 2D-IR will also be used to distinguish equilibrium from resonance structures in homoaromatic molecules. The instrument will be used to characterize the migration of mid-IR photons by scattering media. The ultrafast IR transient absorption spectroscopy of nitrosyl compounds subsequent to laser photolysis will also be investigated. A femtosecond mid-IR spectrometer is an ultra fast spectrometer that operates in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Advances in ultrafast laser technology have made the use of sub-100 femtosecond laser pulses more routine. As the field continues to grow, the significance of molecular phenomena on time scales of picoseconds and shorter is being realized. Arguably, some of the most fundamental processes in chemistry (e.g., bond breaking and formation, electron transfer, and others) occur on ultrafast time scales. This acquisition will exploit the extreme versatility of the instrument in the growing field of ultrafast spectroscopy. The instrument is part of a program to develop a strong ultrafast spectroscopic capability to stimulate a number of research programs as well as to provide a base for collaborations with colleagues at national labs and universities in the Northwest. A number of collaborations with researchers from around the Northwest who are interested in using the instrument have been initiated. As an educational institution, all aspects of the work will be performed by graduate students, select undergraduates, and postdocs as part of their academic experience. This will provide a rich training experience in the growing field of ultrafast methodology.