MRI: Acquisition of an Ultrafast Amplified Laser System

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Major Research Instrumentation award supports the acquisition of an ultrafast multimodal spectroscopy system. This system enables advanced time-resolved spectroscopy experiments, a key capability in material and molecular research. The system will be placed in the Laser Spectroscopy Facility (LSF), housed in the Department of Chemistry of the University of California Irvine. Traditionally, ultrafast lasers and spectroscopy have not been part of user facilities because former ultrafast laser technologies were too complex and unreliable to support many users. Consequently, the user community of ultrafast technologies has remained small, and the unique research capabilities of ultrafast optical techniques have remained inaccessible to an audience interested in such capabilities. In this Program, a state-of-the-art ultrafast laser system is made accessible through a three-pronged model based on optimized facility conditions, strong user support and a partnership with industry. This model addresses past limitations to make ultrafast laser technology and its research capabilities accessible to a much broader community of researchers. In making the technology available to a much larger user base, the impact of ultrafast spectroscopy is significantly amplified. The Program ensures broad exposure and dissemination of ultrafast spectroscopy capabilities. On the UCI campus alone, the Laser Spectroscopy Facility (LSF) in which the system will be housed supports more than 300 users, and serves 13 departments on campus. By leveraging strong connections with institutions and companies neighboring UCI, a large community of researchers will have access to the ultrafast spectroscopy capabilities offered through the facility. The impact of the requested technology is further fortified by a strong user training program, established channels of dissemination, and an outreach program designed around the ultrafast spectroscopy instrument The most fundamental processes in matter evolve on ultrafast time scales. Examples include the making and breaking of chemical bonds, conformational motions of molecules, evolution of optical excitations, and electron transfer processes. These phenomena form the mechanistic basis of scientific challenges in chemistry, biology and materials science: designing efficient catalysts, understanding nature's solution to light harvesting materials, and optimizing the efficiency of solar cells, to name a few. Ultrafast laser technologies have proven indispensable for meeting these challenges, as they provide direct recordings of such fast fundamental processes. Consequently, the demand for ultrafast spectroscopy is growing, as an increasingly expanding pool of chemists, chemical engineers, physicists, and biologists come to rely on this technology. The goal of this Program is to bring the unique capabilities of ultrafast laser science to a broad community of researchers. This goal is achieved by implementing a three-pronged model: 1) Acquisitions of a commercial ultrafast laser light source and nonlinear optical spectrometer, with unprecedented performance, versatility, stability, and simplicity of operation. The system is made available through a staffed user facility at the University of California, Irvine (UCI); 2) A partnership with Newport Optics, the supplier of the instrument. The partnership establishes a push-pull mechanism between technology and application for impacting a broad community beyond the users at UCI; 3) The Ultrafast Consultation Board (UCB), a team of experimental and theoretical ultrafast spectroscopists who provide general assistance, technical guidance, mentoring and help with the interpretation of data. By providing depth to the analysis of acquired spectroscopic data, the UCB bolsters the scientific impact of measurements made by non-experts, expands the user base, and magnifies the breadth of research topics supported by this Program.