MRI: Development of an infrared scanning nanoscope for research and education in ultra-small and ultra-fast properties of advanced materials

技术摘要：这一重大研究仪器奖支持加州大学圣地亚哥分校的一组研究人员开发一种最先进的红外(IR)纳米光谱系统，用于在近场纳米范围内进行超快(10‘fS S)光谱泵浦-探测器测量，使之能够在低至5-10 nm的超小长度尺度上成像。这种独一无二的系统是放大的超快激光光束线和原子力显微镜的混合体。红外光束线基于钛宝石放大器驱动光参量放大器、差频和光整流单元。这一多功能系统能够在从可见光到远红外频率的广泛频率范围内实现高强度泵浦脉冲和高度稳定的探测脉冲。提出的钛：S放大器的可调重复频率将使研究人员能够优化近场光谱和图像的数据采集条件。该设备将允许一大批研究人员解决当代物理、化学、材料科学和生物物理学的一些前沿问题。这些问题包括：石墨烯中超快电子和等离子体动力学的光谱表征，相关电子系统中的光诱导相变，高T_c超导体中的相分离和多体效应之间的竞争，以及承压水和脂类双层的动力学。这些项目的一个共同方面是，它们都需要纳米级空间分辨率的超高速泵浦-探测测量。*非技术摘要：红外(IR)光为探测物质的振动和电子性质提供了一种通用手段。近场红外光学使空间分辨率超过了所谓的衍射极限，从而打开了进入超小(低至~5-10 nm)世界的大门，并克服了通常使用传统衍射受限光学进行超快实验的局限性。这一重大研究仪器奖支持由一名物理学家、一名化学家和一名神经科学家组成的多学科研究团队，以开发一种最先进的设施，用于对来自不同科学领域的材料和生命科学样品进行红外纳米成像和光谱分析。一旦建成并投入使用，纳米光谱仪将满足加州大学圣地亚哥分校的科学研究和教学需求，并促进更多地向教职员工、学生、工业和政府实验室的合作伙伴展示先进的科学仪器。该仪器的商业化将有助于保持美国在制造最先进的纳米级物质探测工具方面的领先地位。

Technical abstract: This Major Research Instrumentation award supports a team of investigators at the University of California San-Diego to develop a state of the art infrared (IR) nano-spectrosopy system for ultra-fast (10's of fs) spectroscopic pump-probe measurements in the setting of a near field nano-scope enabling imaging at ultra-small length scales down to 5-10 nm. This one-of-a-kind system is a hybrid of an amplified ultra-fast laser beamline and an atomic force microscope. The IR beamline is based on a Ti:Sapphire amplifier driving an optical parametric amplifier, difference frequency and optical rectification unit. This versatile system enables intense pump pulses and highly stable probe pulses over a broad frequency range from visible to far-IR frequencies. The tunable repetition rate of the proposed Ti:S amplifier will allow the investigators to optimize data acquisition conditions of near-field spectra and images. The apparatus will allow a broad group of researchers to address some of the problems at the forefront of contemporary physics, chemistry, materials science and biological physics. These issues include among others: a spectroscopic characterization of ultrafast electronic and plasmonic dynamics in graphene, photo-induced phase transitions in correlated electronic systems, phase separation and competition between many body effects in high-Tc superconductors and dynamics of confined water and lipid bilayers. A common aspect of these projects is that they all require ultra-fast pump-probe measurements with nanoscale spatial resolution. ****Non-technical abstract: Infrared (IR) light provides a universal means for probing the vibrational and electronic properties of matter. Near-field IR optics enable spatial resolution beyond the so-called diffraction limit, thus opening access to the world of the ultra-small (down to ~5-10 nm) and overcoming the limitations of commonly employed ultrafast experiments using conventional diffraction-limited optics. This Major Research Instrumentation award supports a multi-disciplinary team of researchers comprised of a physicist, a chemist and a neuroscientist to develop a state-of-the-art facility for IR nano-imaging and spectroscopy analysis of materials and life science specimens from across the sciences. Once built and commissioned, the nano-spectrometer will meet the research and pedagogical needs of the sciences at the University of California San Diego and facilitate greater exposure of advanced scientific instrumentation to faculty, students, partners in industry and government laboratories. The commercialization of the instrumentation will help to maintain US leadership in manufacturing state-of-the-art tools for probing matter at the nanoscale.