CAREER: Spatio-Temporal Imaging and Spectroscopy of Ultrafast Electron and Vibration Dynamics on the Nanoscale

在这个由化学系实验物理化学项目资助的奖项中，华盛顿大学的Markus Raschke教授和他的团队正在研究关于纳米受限系统的电子和振动动力学的基本问题。为了实现同时超高的时间和纳米空间分辨率，Raschke教授和他的团队将飞秒时间分辨光谱与光学近场显微镜技术相结合。扫描探头尖端的局部光场增强提供了必要的空间场限制。这项工作包括探索单个等离子体纳米晶体中的电子动力学，以深入了解不同弛豫通道的时间尺度和效率，以及它们与结构参数的关系。此外，振动动力学的研究将能够区分分子纳米结构中的空间和时间退相干。这一跨学科的研究项目结合了光学光谱学、扫描探头技术和材料科学，为研究生和本科生提供了一个广阔的学习环境。除了实验室研究，该奖项还支持开发一门新的纳米光学和光谱学研究生课程，并为物理化学本科课程开发纳米科学模块。对介观长度尺度(1-100 nm)飞秒动力学的研究有助于从根本上理解潜在的光激发，这对于有针对性地设计功能光学材料、生产纳米光子器件、更好地理解信号转导和改进分子传感方法是必要的。该奖项的教育方面提供了集成的开源教材、课程阅读器、免费的在线百科全书条目，以及为西雅图教育困难学区的学生提供的暑期实习。

In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Professor Markus Raschke and his group at the University of Washington are studying fundamental questions about the electron and vibration dynamics of nanoconfined systems. To achieve simultaneous ultrahigh temporal and nanometer spatial resolution, Professor Raschke and his group combine femtosecond time resolved spectroscopy with optical near-field microscopy techniques. The local optical field enhancement of scanning probe tips provide the necessary spatial field confinement. The proposed work includes probing the electron dynamics in individual plasmonic nanocrystals to provide insight into the time scale and efficiency of different relaxation channels and their correlation with structural parameter. In addition the study of vibrational dynamics will allow to distinguish spatial and temporal decoherence in molecular nanostructures. This interdisciplinary research program with its combination of optical spectroscopy, scanning probe techniques, and material science, provides a broad learning environment for graduate and undergraduate students. In addition to laboratory research, this award supports the development of a new nanooptics and spectroscopy graduate course and of nanoscience modules for the undergraduate curriculum in physical chemistry. The examination of the femtosecond dynamics on the mesoscopic length scale (1 -100 nm) contributes to a fundamental understanding of the underlying optical excitations that is necessary for the targeted design of functional optical materials, for the production of nanophotonic devices, for improved understanding of signal transduction, and for improved methods of molecular sensing. The educational aspects of this award provide integrated open source teaching materials, course readers, free online encyclopedia entries, and a summer internship for students from educationally disadvantaged schools districts in Seattle.