MRI: Acquisition of a Time-Resolved Spectrometer Spanning Ultraviolet to Terahertz Spectral Range for Materials Research

非技术描述：宽带时间分辨激光光谱仪支持材料科学、光子学、光电子学和用于治疗应用的功能生物材料的广泛研究和教育活动。它通过提供一个窗口，了解跨越紫外线、可见光、红外和太赫兹的光谱范围内的光-物质相互作用，从而实现多学科交叉研究。这些研究活动推动了依赖于利用和设计材料中的光学过程的创新技术：从激光和发光二极管，到太阳能、光学传感和通信，再到新的生物兼容材料。光谱仪位于WPI教育与应用原型实验室，该实验室是美国集成光子学制造研究所的一部分，与昆西加蒙德社区学院合作运营。它通过开放接入设施和服务中心模式以及通过培训多样化的劳动力来支持马萨诸塞州中部的光电子和相关技术部门。该仪器增强了伍斯特理工学院和合作机构的研究生、本科生和社区大学生的教育，加强了研究基础设施，并使新的和以前未得到满足的研究方向成为可能。技术描述：宽带、时间分辨率光谱仪有助于在单一系统中研究各种材料与从紫外线到太赫兹的光谱范围内的光相互作用时发生的现象，时间尺度从亚皮秒到微秒。通过集成三种互补的超快光谱技术(时间分辨太赫兹光谱、时间分辨光致发光光谱和瞬时吸收光谱)，每种技术都提供了互补的信息，它允许构建对新兴的光子、光伏、光电化学、柔性光电子和生物启发材料中的光激发的更完整的理解。这项工作有利于WPI科学家和区域合作伙伴在这些领域的研究努力，并通过将这些多学科专业知识结合在一起而促进独特的合作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-Technical Description:A broadband time-resolved laser spectrometer supports a wide range of research and educational activities in materials science, photonics, optoelectronics and functional biomaterials for therapeutic applications. It enables multiple cross-disciplinary research by providing a window into light-matter interactions across the spectral range that spans the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and terahertz. These research activities drive innovative technologies that rely on harnessing and engineering optical processes in materials: from lasers and light emitting diodes, to solar energy, optical sensing and communications, to new biocompatible materials. The spectrometer is located at WPI Laboratory for Education & Application Prototypes, which is a part of the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics and operates in collaboration with Quinsigamond Community College. It supports photonics and related technology sectors in central Massachusetts through an open-access-facility and service-center model and by training a diverse workforce. The instrument enhances education of graduate, undergraduate and community college students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and partner institutions by strengthening the research infrastructure and enabling new and previously unmet research directions.Technical Description:The broadband, time-resolved spectrometer facilitates, in a single system, investigations of phenomena that occur in a variety of materials upon their interaction with light in the spectral range spanning the ultraviolet to terahertz, over sub-picoseconds to microseconds time scales. By integrating three complementary ultrafast spectroscopic techniques (time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy, time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and transient absorption spectroscopy), each providing complementary information, it allows constructing a more complete understanding of photoexcitations in emerging photonic, photovoltaic, photoelectrochemical, flexible optoelectronic and biologically-inspired materials. This work benefits research efforts by WPI scientists and regional partners in these fields and fosters unique collaborations as a result of bringing this multidisciplinary expertise together.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.