MRI R2: Acquisition of a Femtosecond Optical Frequency Comb and THz Spectrometer for Atomic, Molecular and Condensed Matter Spectroscopy

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。该奖项授予加州州立大学东湾分校物理、化学和生物化学系最先进的光谱仪器，以表彰其在原子物理、凝聚态物理、材料科学和物理化学领域的研究。由科学家组成的跨学科团队，所有经验丰富的光谱学家和活跃的研究-教育工作者将开展一系列广泛的光谱研究项目。在原子物理中，直接频率梳光谱学将用于长期研究计划，以了解稀土原子的复杂光谱，从而发现大量尚未实验发现的理论预测能级，并确定原子状态参数(如寿命、极化率、超精细分裂、旋磁比等)。从未被测量过的东西。这些实验将极大地提高我们对稀土原子的了解，并使我们能够评估稀土原子亚稳态之间的潜在候选者，以进行新的基础物理测试，特别是搜索电子的永久电偶极矩。在凝聚态物理中，将在关联电子系统中探索特征低能激发，并将在经历量子相变的系统中测试温度-频率标度行为。在材料科学中，太赫兹光谱将有助于表征新型的薄膜光伏系统以及工程超材料裂环谐振器结构(所谓的负折射率材料)。最后，在物理化学中，该系统将用于创建与大气相关的温室气体和分子的复合光谱。原子、分子和凝聚态物质系统的光谱研究将新系统的能力与学术和工业研究中使用的良好开发的实验方法和分析技术相结合-非常适合本科生研究。这些收购将为多个学科(物理、化学和生物化学)的学生提供获得经验和研究机会的机会，否则他们将无法获得。特别是，加州州立大学东湾分校是美国最多元化的本科院校之一(根据美国教育部的数据，2008年，学生多样性在2474所四年制大学中排名第67)，我们的系在招收和留住自然科学领域代表性不足的少数族裔和女性方面走在了前列。在一所负担得起、交通便利的公立大学，收购重大研究仪器公司将为尽可能广泛的学生提供机会，并从加州州立大学东湾极其多样化的学生池中吸引新的物理科学专业的学生。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award is for state-of-the-art spectroscopic instrumentation for the Departments of Physics and Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University - East Bay for research in the fields of atomic physics, condensed matter physics, material science, and physical chemistry. The interdisciplinary team of scientists, all experienced spectroscopists and active researcher-educators will carry out a wide array of spectroscopic research projects. In atomic physics, direct frequency comb spectroscopy will be employed in a long-term research program to understand the complex spectra of rare-earth atoms, enabling discovery of a large number of theoretically predicted energy levels yet to be experimentally found and determination of atomic state parameters (such as lifetimes, polarizabilities, hyperfine splittings, gyromagnetic ratios, etc.) that have never been measured. These experiments will vastly improve our knowledge of rare-earth atoms and allow evaluation of potential candidates among metastable states in rare-earth atoms for new tests of fundamental physics, in particular searches for the permanent electric dipole moment of the electron. In condensed matter physics, characteristic low energy excitations will be probed in correlated electronic systems and temperature-frequency scaling behavior will be tested in systems that undergo quantum phase transitions. In materials science, THz spectroscopy will facilitate the characterization of novel thin film photovoltaic systems as well as engineered metamaterials split ring resonator structures (so-called negative index of refraction materials). Finally in physical chemistry the system will be used to create composite spectra for atmospherically relevant greenhouse gases and molecules.The research on spectroscopy of atoms, molecules and condensed matter systems blends the power of the new systems with well-developed experimental methods and analysis techniques - well-suited for undergraduate research - used both in academic and industrial research. The acquisitions will provide students in multiple disciplines (physics, chemistry, and biochemistry) access to experiences and research opportunities they otherwise would not have. In particular, California State University - East Bay is one of the most diverse undergraduate institutions in the U.S. (in 2008, the student diversity ranked 67th out of 2,474 four-year universities according to the U.S. Department of Education), and our departments are at the forefront of recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities and women in the physical sciences. At an affordable, accessible, public university, this Major Research Instrumentation acquisition will provide opportunities to the broadest possible range of students and attract new physical science majors from the extremely diverse pool of students attending California State University East Bay.