MIT Laser Research Facility

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This award funded by the Chemistry Division renews support for the Laser Research Facility (LRF) at the Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory at MIT directed by Professor Michael S. Feld. The LRF is a shared research facility in which physical scientists in chemistry, physics, biology and engineering pursue a broad range of problems using lasers and state-of-the-art spectroscopic techniques. The research is focussed in five areas: multidimensional infrared spectroscopy, high sensitivity spectroscopy for combustion and environmental science, spectroscopy of nanomaterials, proton-coupled electron transfer, and biological spectroscopy. The Laser Research Facility features training for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students as well as outreach through dissemination of scientific results, topical seminars, and links with local schools. The Laser Research Facility, as a shared facility with state-of-the-art equipment and personnel skilled in its use, enables new research opportunities to be seized upon and carried out quickly, economically, and effectively. It leads to new collaborations and research programs that would not exist in the absence of the facility, sometimes resulting in significant discoveries that are unanticipated.