Purchase of an Ultrafast Laser System for Materials Chemistry

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。在化学研究仪器和设施：多用户计划（CRIF:MU）的支持下，加州大学河滨分校化学系将获得一个具有宽波长覆盖范围的放大飞秒激光系统——从紫外线（270 nm）到近红外（2.6微米）。该激光系统将被河滨大学的研究人员用于研究有趣的化学和材料系统的时间分辨光谱。研究的课题包括：(1)中性自由基导体的时间分辨光谱；(2)纳米结构半导体中的电荷动力学；(3)高压下分子材料的性能；(4)热吸附剂在金属表面的扩散和反应性；(5)有机半导体中的激子动力学。激光系统将被大量的本科生和研究生使用，无论是在教学环境还是在研究中。这个西班牙裔服务机构的大量学生用户是传统上在科学领域代表性不足的群体的成员。超快激光系统，就像在这个奖项下购买的那样，允许化学家在精确的时间尺度上探测重要的化学和物理过程的动力学——从化学键的形成和断裂，到单个原子的振动和受激电子的弛豫。化学家观察这些过程的能力使他们能够更好地理解分子和材料是如何工作的。这种知识可以用来制造新的或更好的材料或设备。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).With support from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Multiuser program (CRIF:MU), the Department of Chemistry at the University of California - Riverside will acquire an amplified femtosecond laser system with broad wavelength coverage -- from the ultraviolet (270 nm) to the near infrared (2.6 micron). The laser system will be used by researchers at Riverside to study the time-resolved spectroscopy of interesting chemical and materials systems. Some the topics to be studied include: (1) the time-resolved spectroscopy of neutral radical conductors; (2) the charge dynamics in nanostructured semiconductors; (3) the properties of molecular materials under high pressure; (4) the diffusion and reactivity of hot adsorbates on metal surfaces and (5) exciton dynamics in organic semiconductors. The laser system will be used by large numbers of undergraduate and graduate students, both in instructional settings as well as in research. Significant numbers of the student users at this Hispanic Serving Institution are members of groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.Ultrafast laser systems, like the one purchased under this award, allow chemists to probe the dynamics of chemical and physical processes at precisely the time scales for important chemical and physical processes -- from the making and breaking of chemical bonds, to the vibrations of individual atoms and the relaxation of excited electrons. The ability of chemists to observe these processes allows them to develop a better understanding of how molecules and materials work. This kind of knowledge can be used to make new or better materials or devices.