Equipment: MRI: Track II Development of an Optical Spectrometer for Multimodal Linearly Polarized, Circularly Polarized, and Integrating-Sphere-Assisted Spectroscopic Measurements

This award is jointly supported by the Major Research Instrumentation and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation programs, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Mississippi State University along with the University of Central Florida are developing an optical spectrometer for multimodal linearly polarized, circularly polarized, and integrating-sphere-assisted spectroscopic measurements. The instrument will support the research of Professor Dongmao Zhang and colleagues Shengli Zou (University of Central Florida), Colleen Scott, Qilin Dai (Jackson State University), and Sidney Creutz. This instrument facilitates research in the areas of chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, and physics. In general, UV-vis, fluorescence, scattering, and circular dichroism are widely used optical spectroscopic techniques by researchers in academia and industry as well as in scientific education. The new instrument introduces several innovative circularly polarized spectroscopic methods that are not currently possible with any commercial or published tools. The instrument also significantly enhances the capabilities of linearly polarized and integrating-sphere-assisted spectroscopic techniques. The instrument has a modular design that allows for agile controls of a number of parameters and enables the implementation of numerous additional spectroscopic modalities using the same spectrometer. This instrument's development involves a collaboration with Sciencetech Inc, a Canadian company recognized for their proficiency in creating engineering solutions for optical instrumentation. This instrument enhances the educational, research, and teaching efforts of students at all levels in several departments at the Mississippi State University and the University of Central Florida. Mississippi State University boasts a diverse student population, with 23% from underrepresented groups, primarily Black or African American. Through the research activities enabled by this instrument, numerous undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdocs, and senior researchers across the nation, will receive interdisciplinary training. This award is aimed at supporting research and education at all levels. Instrument being developed is an optical spectrometer for multimodal linearly polarized, circularly polarized, and integrating-sphere-assisted spectroscopic measurements. The instrument addresses shortcomings of existing linearly polarized and integrating-sphere-assisted approaches. It offers several innovative circularly polarized spectroscopic capabilities. These measurement capabilities will 1) advance our fundamental understanding of photon/matter interactions, 2) lead to new strategies for noninvasive characterization of materials properties, including morphological, conformational, electronic, compositional, and optical properties. The combined capabilities of the new instrument for linearly polarized, integrating-sphere-assisted, and circularly polarized spectroscopic measurements will revolutionize chiral materials research. The information derived from these measurements will help researchers quantitatively understand the interactions between chiral absorption, chiral scattering, and chiral emission in materials. The developed tool will enable chemists, biologists, and materials scientists to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between structure and properties of the materials they study, as it enhances their capability for non-invasive materials characterization. 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.