MRI: Development of a Sub-diffraction Limited Microscope for Imaging Ultrafast Dynamics from the Visible to Mid-infrared Spectral Range

MRI：开发亚衍射有限显微镜，用于对可见光到中红外光谱范围的超快动态成像

• 批准号: 2019083
• 负责人: Sean Roberts
• 金额: $ 100.56万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2019083&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Development; Sub; diffraction; Limited

This award is jointly supported by the Major Research Instrumentation, the Chemistry Research Instrumentation program, and the Chemical Measurement and Imaging program in the Division of Chemistry, and the Major Research Instrumentation in the Division of Materials Research. With this award, Professors Sean Roberts and Carlos Baiz at the University of Texas Austin and Professor James Batteas at Texas A&M University are developing a sub-diffraction Time-resolved Super-resolution Microscope (TSM). This instrument enables measurement of dynamics unfolding over femtosecond-to-millisecond timescales with spatial resolution approaching 10 nanometers. The super resolution approach can be used to view fast processes such as electron motion in semiconductor nanostructures or dynamic restructuring of biological membranes. The TSM is designed to achieve three demanding needs, sub-diffraction spatial resolution, femtosecond time resolution and spectral resolution, from the near-UV to mid-IR. This can critically enable key insights into the inner workings of biological systems and creation of new materials for energy conversion and quantum information science. The microscope construction provides training of student researchers who work with the faculty. After commissioning, the instrument is to be made available via its integration into the Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials (CDCM), a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) based at the University of Texas at Austin. The project provides graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who use the instrument in their research the opportunity to develop a background in both ultrafast science and super-resolution microscopy.The TSM is configured to employ laser pulses tunable from the near-UV to mid-IR to follow dynamics involving electronic, nuclear, and molecular motions. An integrated atomic force microscope (AFM) allows in situ mapping of sample topography and near-field tip enhancement of signals produced in the region beneath the tip. The research enabled with the microscope will be directed by the principal investigators at studies of electronic dynamics at junctions formed between low-dimensional semiconductors and structural fluctuations within heterogeneous soft matter such as lipid membranes and polymer blends. Other research directions to be explored with the new TSM instrument include energy and charge migration in solar energy materials, exciton dynamics in van der Waals heterostructures, energy and phonon conduction in thermoelectric and mid-IR photonic materials, ion migration in batteries and smart windows, biomolecule motion in cell membranes, nonequilibrium dynamics of photoactive polymers, and nanoscopic control of materials under intense electric fields.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.

该奖项由主要研究仪器，化学研究仪器计划，化学测量和成像计划以及材料研究部门的主要研究仪器共同支持。 有了这个奖项，得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的Sean Roberts和卡洛斯Baiz教授以及得克萨斯A M大学的James Batteas教授正在开发一种亚衍射时间分辨超分辨率显微镜（TSM）。该仪器能够测量飞秒至毫秒时间尺度上的动态展开，空间分辨率接近10纳米。超分辨率方法可用于观察快速过程，例如半导体纳米结构中的电子运动或生物膜的动态重组。TSM旨在实现三个苛刻的需求，亚衍射空间分辨率，飞秒时间分辨率和光谱分辨率，从近紫外到中红外。这可以关键地实现对生物系统内部运作的关键洞察，并为能量转换和量子信息科学创造新材料。显微镜的建设提供了谁与教师工作的学生研究人员的培训。 调试后，该仪器将通过集成到位于德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的材料研究科学与工程中心（MRSEC）的材料动力学与控制中心（CDCM）中。该项目为在研究中使用该仪器的研究生和博士后研究人员提供了发展超快科学和超分辨率显微镜背景的机会。TSM被配置为使用从近紫外到中红外可调谐的激光脉冲来跟踪涉及电子，核和分子运动的动力学。 一个集成的原子力显微镜（AFM）允许在原位映射的样品形貌和近场尖端增强的信号产生在该地区的尖端。显微镜启用的研究将由主要研究人员指导，研究低维半导体之间形成的结处的电子动力学以及非均质软物质（如脂质膜和聚合物共混物）内的结构波动。 新的TSM仪器将探索的其他研究方向包括太阳能材料中的能量和电荷迁移，货车德瓦尔斯异质结构中的激子动力学，热电和中红外光子材料中的能量和声子传导，电池和智能窗中的离子迁移，细胞膜中的生物分子运动，光敏聚合物的非平衡动力学，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。