MRI: Acquisition of a Femtosecond Mid-Infrared Spectrometer

该奖项由2009年美国复苏与再投资法案(公法111-5)资助，爱达荷州大学化学系将获得一台飞秒中红外光谱仪。该仪器将拥有许多类型的超快光谱测量中常见的核心部件。它将实现易于在不同实验配置之间转换的设计功能，从而可以容纳广泛的实验。最初，PI计划进行四个截然不同的实验。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基化合物的超快红外瞬时吸收光谱。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使用低于100飞秒的激光脉冲变得更加常规。随着磁场的持续增长，人们正在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，键的断裂和形成、电子转移等)发生在超快的时间尺度上。此次收购将利用该仪器在不断增长的超快光谱领域的极端多功能性。该仪器是一个项目的一部分，该项目旨在开发强大的超快光谱能力，以刺激一系列研究项目，并为与西北地区国家实验室和大学的同事合作提供基础。与西北地区对使用该仪器感兴趣的研究人员的一些合作已经启动。作为一个教育机构，这项工作的所有方面都将由研究生、挑选的本科生和博士后作为他们学术经验的一部分来执行。这将在不断增长的超快方法学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.