Development of Spectroscopic Instrumentation for Research and Student Training Involving Confined Fluids and Friction

这是伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校获得的仪器开发奖。PI将开发一种新的仪器用于密闭流体的光谱研究。以前用基于力的方法研究受限流体的工作现在提出了一些科学问题，需要光谱研究来确定答案。这将是第一个集成光谱和基于力的测量的实验平台，并将利用现代激光仪器已经发展到可以被那些在超快激光方面相对不成熟但在纳米流变学方面专家的学生有效地用于材料研究的事实。具体来说，需要一个由飞秒激光器泵浦的光参量放大器（OPA）来(a)使用和频产生（SFG）产生时间分辨的振动谱，带宽带检测以提高时间分辨；(b)使用双光子激发后的时间分辨荧光去极化（FD）测量流体膜厚度与分子本身大小相当时的分子旋转次数。***这是伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校的仪器开发奖。将研制一种用于密闭流体光谱研究的新仪器。微型和纳米器件将对下一代技术产生巨大影响。这种新的超小型技术将显著提高现有机器人、计算机、通信和其他电子/光电/机械设备的性能。虽然最初的努力主要集中在制造和电气性能上，但最近的研究发现摩擦和磨损对微动力学装置的效率、功率输出和稳态速度有深远的有害影响。摩擦对微型机械的性能和寿命造成了严重的制约和限制，毫无疑问，对新兴的纳米机械技术将造成更严重的制约。为了使微纳米技术在未来取得必要的进展，对操作、摩擦和磨损特性的基本理解是至关重要的。减少磨损和摩擦具有深远的经济影响。根据最近的估计，改善对摩擦和磨损的关注将为发达国家节省高达1.6%的国民生产总值——仅在美国每年就超过1000亿美元。这种新仪器的预期结果将超越我们定义、预测和控制滑动纳米物体摩擦特性的能力。它将跨越传统的学科界限；它将训练工程师从化学的角度出发，训练化学家和物理学家在摩擦领域富有成效地工作。

0076392GranickThis is an instrument development award to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The PI will develop a new instrument for spectroscopic studies of confined fluids. Prior work on confined fluids by force-based methods now poses scientific questions that require spectroscopic study for definitive answer. This will be the first such experimental platform for integrated spectroscopic and force-based measurements and will take advantage of the fact that modern laser instrumentation has advanced to the point that it can be used productively for materials research by students who are relatively unsophisticated in ultrafast lasers, yet expert in nanorheology. Specifically, an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) pumped by a femtosecond laser will be needed to (a) generate time-resolved vibrational spectra using sum frequency generation (SFG) with broad-band detection for heightened time resolution; and (b) measure, using time-resolved fluorescence depolarization (FD) after two-photon excitation, molecular rotational times when the thickness of fluid films becomes comparable to the size of molecules themselves.***This is an instrument development award to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A new instrument for spectroscopic studies of confined fluids will be developed. Micro and nano-devices will have enormous impact on next generation technology. This new ultra small technology will significantly improve the performance of already existing robots, computers, communication, and other electro/opto/mechanical devices. While initial efforts have been principally devoted to the fabrication and electrical performance, recent studies have discovered a profound deleterious influence of friction and wear on the efficiency, power output, and steady state speed of micro-dynamics devices. Friction imposes serious constraints and limitations on the performance and lifetime of micro-machines and, undoubtedly, will impose even more severe constraints on the emerging technology of nano-machines. To make the needed future advances in micro- and nano-technology, a fundamental understanding of the operational, friction, and wear characteristics is paramount. Reducing wear and friction has a profound economic impact. By most recent estimates, improved attention to friction and wear would save developed countries up to 1.6% of their gross national product - over $100 billion annually in the United States alone. The expected outcome of this new instrumentation will be to leapfrog our ability to define, predict, and control frictional properties of sliding nano-objects. It will cut across traditional disciplinary lines; it will train engineers to take a chemical point of view and will train chemists and physicists to work productively in the field of friction.