MRI: Acquisition of a Tip-Enhanced Nano Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) Microscope for Soft Matter Research and Education

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This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).Non-Technical Description:The acquisition of a tip-enhanced nano-Raman spectroscopy instrument at the University of Vermont (UVM) will create a nexus for convergent materials research, addressing fundamental cross-disciplinary questions related to chemical behavior and structure-properties relationships in materials ranging from large biomolecules and organic small-molecule semiconductors to geological formations and minerals. Recent investments by UVM in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics building complex, including a shared microscopy research laboratory space, have created an effective location for the instrument, which is operated as part of a user research facility. UVM has a group of cross-disciplinary researchers with expertise and scientific interests that make full use of the instrument, while simultaneously attracting regional collaborators. The microscope is incorporated into an advanced two-semester instrumentation Materials Science (MATS) course for graduate and undergraduate students. High school and middle school students learn about the research enabled by this instrument through events organized in collaboration with the student-led local chapter of the Materials Research Society.Technical Description:Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is a new technique that facilitates rapid advances in exploring complex soft and hard materials systems because it enables simultaneous multi-imaging techniques with high spatial resolution. The characteristics of the instrument include less than 10 nm spatial resolution and the ability to measure ultra-low frequency Raman shifts. Using this microscope, UVM researchers address one of the greatest challenges of soft matter research: reliably and efficiently mapping the structure-property relationships at small scales, which can ultimately lead to predicting, controlling and tailoring advanced carbon-based materials for specific uses. Research thrusts significantly benefiting from this instrument include a) probing and controlling the coupling between collective dynamics (phonons) and electronic transport in organic semiconductors, b) fundamental understanding of the coupling between vibrations and coherence phenomena in soft matter systems, and c) mapping strain and disorder of thin films on the nanoscale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.