Repair and upgrade of a gated, intensified CCD camera for time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy

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We request funding to repair and upgrade an intensified, gated charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, an advanced electronic light sensor, that is dedicated to time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy.  In this application, light that is emitted by semiconductors is measured as a function of time after the sample is excited by a short laser pulse.  This measurement allows us to unravel the semiconductor physics of the materials under study, namely the electronic dynamics that underpin the semiconductor properties.  Our camera has suffered damage due to accidental overexposure to a calibration light source.  This damage makes routine data acquisition problematic, and it cripples what is otherwise a state-of-the-art facility for time-resolved spectroscopy for materials research (with a total investment of approximately 1.5M$).  A modest investment to repair it will allow us to maximise the research output of this facility and will contribute to our first-class training of highly-qualified personnel.We also request funding to purchase an additional CCD camera that will enhance significantly the combined experimental facility of the two investigators in this proposal.  This new camera will close the detectability gap at the interface between the visible and near-infrared parts of the light spectrum, and it will allow us to make highly sensitive optical measurements necessary for the characterisation of our materials.