MRI-R2: Acquisition of a Confocal Raman Microscope

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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 Professor Vartkess A. Apkarian and colleagues Rachel Martin, Reginald M. Penner and Eric Potma from the Department of Chemistry at the University of California-Irvine (UCI) will acquire a confocal Raman microscope to facilitate research at the NSF Center for Chemical Innovation on Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit and the UCI Center for Solar Energy. The instrument will be broadly utilized for the molecular characterization of fabricated novel materials, nano-structured devices for solar cells, single molecule devices based on nano-tube and nano-wire platforms, nano-catalysts, polycrystalline hydrates and protein aggregates. These are all examples of heterogeneous specimens in which molecular composition and function greatly vary with space.A confocal Raman microscope is a highly flexible instrument, principally used for the non-destructive chemical characterization of heterogeneous specimens. Raman spectra allow the identification of molecular structure and environment. The confocal Raman microscope produces images of specimens, consisting of spectra obtained with a spatial resolution of 1 micrometer. The instrument will be an integral part teaching and research activities of two research centers and will in addition serve the broader research communities at UCI.