Equipment: MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Confocal Raman Microscope for Research and Education

非技术描述：本项目资助购置一台扫描共聚焦拉曼显微镜。该显微镜使研究人员能够通过检测不同空间位置的拉曼光谱来绘制样品的组成。拉曼光谱作为不同分子或晶格结构的化学指纹。结合扫描探针能力，新仪器允许研究人员绘制出纳米空间分辨率的样品组成。为了最大限度地增加用户数量，该仪器被集成到加州大学河滨分校（UCR）的分析化学仪器设施（ACIF）中。该仪器也被纳入三个不同系的高年级本科生实验课：化学、环境科学和材料科学与工程。每年，200多名高级本科生通过演示拉曼显微镜应用的实验获得经验。这种经历有助于本科生（主要是来自代表性不足群体的第一代大学生）继续从事高科技领域的职业或研究生学习。技术描述：许多学科的研究人员需要能够在纳米到微米长度尺度上表征其样品组成的工具。为了表征复杂的非均质样品，有必要进行具有高空间分辨率（光学和原子力显微镜）的化学敏感光谱测量（拉曼和光致发光）。拉曼仪器高度自动化，具有增强的功能，包括偏振敏感检测，广谱光致发光测量，以及通过尖端增强拉曼光谱（TERS）的纳米级化学分辨率，使其能够适应不同领域研究人员不断增长的研究需求。它使具有新功能的材料得以发展，包括光激活有机晶体、基于磁振子的热传输、高带隙半导体和半导体团簇。新材料的创造，如拓扑和应变激活超导体，是量子信息处理的有希望的候选者，因为样品可以快速表征而加速。工程师们正在以纳米分辨率表征实用材料，如基于病毒的生物传感器和电池架构，同时评估微塑料样品的成分，以衡量它们对环境的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Non-technical Description:This project funds the acquisition of a scanning confocal Raman microscope. The microscope enables researchers to map out the composition of a sample by detecting the Raman spectrum at different spatial locations. The Raman spectrum acts as a chemical fingerprint for different molecules or crystal lattice structures. Combined with a scanning probe capability, the new instrument allows researchers to map out the sample composition with nanometer spatial resolution. To maximize the number of users, this instrument is integrated into the Analytical Chemistry Instrumentation Facility (ACIF) at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). The instrument is also incorporated into upper-division undergraduate laboratory classes in three different departments: Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, and Materials Science and Engineering. Each year, more than 200 advanced undergraduate students gain experience by performing experiments that illustrate the applications of Raman microscopy. This experience helps the undergraduates, who are predominantly first-generation college students from underrepresented groups, move on to careers in high-technology fields or to postgraduate study. Technical Description:Researchers across many disciplines require tools that can characterize the composition of their samples on nanometer to micrometer length scales. In order to characterize complex, heterogeneous samples, it is necessary to perform chemically sensitive spectroscopy measurements (Raman and photoluminescence) with a high spatial resolution (optical and atomic force microscopy). The Raman instrument is highly automated with enhanced capabilities that include polarization sensitive detection, broad-spectrum photoluminescence measurements, and nanometer-scale chemical resolution through Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) that permit it to accommodate the ever-increasing research demands from researchers working in diverse fields. It is enabling the development of materials with novel capabilities, including photoactivated organic crystals, magnon-based heat transport, high band-gap semiconductors, and semiconductor clusters. The creation of new materials, such as topological and strain-activated superconductors that are promising candidates for quantum information processing, is accelerated because samples can be quickly characterized. Engineers are characterizing practical materials such as virus-based biosensors and battery architectures with nanometer resolution, while the composition of microplastic samples is assessed to gauge their environmental impact.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.