MRI: Acquisition of an Emission Lifetime Spectrometer to Support Multidisciplinary Research and Research Training at Montana State University

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

With this award co-funded by the Division of Chemistry and the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Professor Bern Kohler and colleague Robert A. Walker from Montana State University will acquire an optical emission lifetime spectrometer. The award will enhance research training and education at all levels, especially in fundamental photophysics, solar energy conversion, and materials characterization. The acquisition will be especially directed at studies of DNA emission dynamics, solute isomerization and aggregation at solid/liquid interfaces, structure and degradation in mixed ion-electron conducting materials, luminescence probes of metal binding sites in viruses and bioinspired nanomaterials, energy and electron transfer in coordination polymers, fluorescence decay in proteins and 2D gels, and studies of novel chromophores for nonlinear-optical applications. Emission of light (photons) by excited atoms, molecules, and materials is one of the most fundamental and versatile tools in experimental science. The intensity and rate at which the light is emitted after prior irradiation by a laser provides insight on how the molecular structure of a material is structured and how it releases the stored energy. This information can be used in numerous applications ranging from solar energy conversion to laser medical applications. Undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from the instrument's versatility and ease of use as they are trained in its use in their research. Furthermore, the spectrometer will provide educational opportunities to groups underrepresented in science. American Indian high school students from Montana's reservations will use the emission lifetime spectrometer every summer as part of a six-week introduction to research, and further outreach is planned at Montana's seven tribal colleges.