Broadband Multipath Spectrometry using High Diffuse Reflectivity Cavities

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In this award, funded by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program of the Division of Chemistry, Professor Purnendu Dasgupta of the University of Texas at Arlington and his graduate student researchers will be supported to develop broadband multipath spectrometry using cavities with diffuse but high reflectivity. The key feature of the devices that will be developed is an increase in the effective path-length for absorption achieved by having the light pass through the sample multiple times. In comparison to other multi-path optical methods, the method being developed by Prof. Dasgupta and his students is not reliant upon optically flat surfaces. Spectrometry is a workhorse method for quantitatively measuring the concentration of species in solution. It fails when the analytes of interest are weakly absorbing, when the pathlength through the sample is small, or when the concentration of the absorbing species is very low. Methods like that being developed in this project aim to overcome these problems, thereby increasing the utility of this robust analytical method. The technique being developed in this project can be useful in a number of important applications, including the determination of low levels of contaminants in ultra-high purity water. The students working on this project will gain useful experience in building new kinds of analytical instruments, and they will be well-trained for employment in the science and technology workforce.