Broadband Two-Photon Absorption Spectroscopy for High-Repetition-Rate Lasers

在化学系化学测量和成像项目的支持下，堪萨斯大学的Christopher Elles教授和他的团队正在开发和实施新的基于激光的方法来测量和表征分子的特性。利用强激光脉冲激活分子在许多研究领域都有重要的应用，从生物样品的显微成像到高密度光学数据存储介质的开发。然而，目前可用于这些应用的最佳方法只有具有专门技术知识的研究小组才能获得，而这些研究小组不一定是制造这些材料的小组。埃莱斯教授与研究生和本科生合作，正在开发新的技术和仪器，使这些复杂的测量更广泛地应用于研究界。通过简化表征激光激活分子特性的过程，这项工作可以更快地开发新化合物和新技术，包括诊断和治疗生物医学应用。该项目还包括一项综合教育推广计划，帮助当前和未来的高中科学教师开发新的教材，将当代研究的关键概念纳入其中，并解决下一代科学标准（NGSS）的问题。研究小组正在开发更广泛的方法来测量宽带双光子吸收（2PA）光谱，使用高重复率飞秒激光。目前测量2PA光谱的方法，包括z扫描和双光子激发荧光（2PEF），仅限于单波长测量，并且不容易由非非线性光谱专业的团队实现。为了克服这些限制，该小组正在设计一种集成的单箱光谱仪，可以与任何现有的飞秒脉冲激光系统相结合，快速，轻松地获得准确的2PA光谱，为分子光谱学提供了一种有价值的新工具。该团队正在努力开发新的功能，包括精确的绝对2PA横截面、单次数据采集和2PA光谱的实时成像。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Broadband Two-Photon Absorption Spectroscopy for High-Repetition Rate Lasers With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor Christopher Elles and his group at the University of Kansas are working to develop and implement new laser-based methods to measure and characterize the properties of molecules. The activation of molecules using intense laser pulses has important applications in many research fields, ranging from microscopic imaging of biological samples to the development of high-density optical data storage media. However, the best methods currently available for these applications are only accessible to research groups with specialized technical expertise, which are not necessarily the groups who make the materials. Working with both graduate and undergraduate students, Professor Elles is developing new techniques and instrumentation that will make these sophisticated measurements more widely accessible to the research community. By simplifying the process for characterizing the properties of laser-activated molecules, this work enables more rapid development of new compounds and new technologies, including diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical applications. The project also includes an integrated educational outreach program to help current and future high school science teachers develop new teaching materials that incorporate key concepts from contemporary research and address the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).The research team is developing more widely accessible methods for measuring broadband two-photon absorption (2PA) spectra using high-repetition rate femtosecond lasers. Current methods to measure 2PA spectra, including z-scan and two-photon excited fluorescence (2PEF), are limited to single-wavelength measurements and are not easily implemented by groups that do not specialize in nonlinear spectroscopy. To overcome these limitations, the group is working to design an integrated, one-box spectrometer that can be coupled with any existing femtosecond pulsed laser system to quickly and easily obtain accurate 2PA spectra, providing a valuable new tool for molecular spectroscopy. The team is working to develop new capabilities that include accurate absolute 2PA cross-sections, single-shot data acquisition, and on-the-fly imaging of 2PA spectra.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.