RII Track-4:NSF: Direct and Complete Characterization of Electronic Properties of Materials Under Pressure

金刚石压砧是在极端压力（数千到数百万个大气压）下探测材料的强大工具，但从DAC实验中提取的电子信息通常受到压力装置本身的材料和几何约束的限制-样品被毫米的金刚石和英寸的钢包围。固态高次谐波发生光谱学（sHHG）是一种新兴的技术，用于研究材料的电子和结构特性，它使用超快激光激发电子和光学光谱来探测它们，从而提供了一种全光学途径来收集材料在极压下的详细电子信息。这个NSF EPSCoR RII Track-4研究项目结合了内华达州拉斯维加斯大学（UNLV）的高压专业知识和加州大学伯克利分校（UCB）世界领先的超快光谱学能力，提供了一种直接测量极端压力下材料电子能带结构的方法。由此产生的新方法将为研究人员提供一种直接测量高压下材料性能的方法，目前这些材料是从伴随的计算中推断出来的，该项目还将使UNLV的学生接触到世界领先机构的尖端技术。（RII轨道-4）项目提供了奖学金，在UNLV的研究助理教授在他们的学术生涯的关键时刻，并支持研究生参加他们的第一类实验。该项目的重点是将固态高次谐波产生光谱技术应用于金刚石对顶砧中极高压下的材料。这些结果可以用来构建它们的电子能带结构，而这些信息是目前可用的实验方法无法获得的。因此，这种发展将填补高压研究中的一个长期空白，PI和主机将准备将他们的新技术应用于一系列问题，其中包括跟踪高压下的压力诱导电子相变和化学反应。PI和学生将有机会在主办机构获得独特的和世界领先的设施，并将有助于进一步开发这些设施与高压实验的兼容性。该奖学金将促进UCB和UNLV，少数民族服务机构，标题III亚裔美国人和美洲原住民，太平洋岛民服务机构和标题V西班牙裔服务机构之间的紧密联系。这将被证明是变革的初级PI的职业生涯，并在UNLV的研究基础设施，由于新的专业知识，这将是目前在其校园。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The diamond anvil cell is a powerful tool for probing materials at extreme pressures (thousands to millions of atmospheres), but electronic information that can be extracted from DAC experiments is often limited by the material and geometric constraints of the pressure device itself — the sample is surrounded by millimeters of diamond and inches of steel. Solid-state high harmonic generation spectroscopy (sHHG) is an emerging technique for studying electronic and structural properties of materials which uses ultrafast lasers to excite electrons and optical spectroscopy to probe them, thus providing an all-optical avenue to gleaning detailed electronic information on materials at extreme pressure. This NSF EPSCoR RII Track-4 research project combines high-pressure expertise from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) with world-leading ultrafast spectroscopy capabilities at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) to deliver a method to measure electronic band structures of materials at extreme pressures directly. The resulting new methodology will provide researchers with a means to directly measure properties materials at high pressure which are currently inferred from accompanying computation, and the project will also expose UNLV students to cutting-edge techniques at a world-leading institution.This NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 Research Fellows (RII Track-4) project provides a fellowship to a Research Assistant Professor at UNLV at a critical juncture of their academic career, and support for a graduate student to participate in first-of-their-kind experiments. The focus of this project is the application of solid-state high harmonic generation spectroscopy to materials at extreme high pressures in a diamond anvil cell. The results can be used to construct their electronic band structures — information which is not possible to garner using currently available experimental methodologies. A development of this kind will thus fill a longstanding gap in high-pressure research, and the PI and the host will be poised to apply their new technique to a range of problems, which involve tracking pressure-induced electronic phase transitions and chemical reactions in situ at high pressures. The PI and students will have access to unique and world-leading facilities at the host institution and will aid in further developing those facilities for compatibility with high-pressure experiments. The fellowship will foster a strong tie between UCB and UNLV, a Minority-Serving Institution, Title III Asian American and Native American, Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, and a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution. This will prove transformative to the career of the junior PI, and to the research infrastructure at UNLV owing to the new expertise which will be made present on its campus.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.