Equipment: MRI: Track 1 Acquisition of a Confocal Raman Microscope for Research and Education

Non-technical Description: This project funds the acquisition of a scanning confocal Raman microscope. The microscope enables researchers to map out the composition of a sample by detecting the Raman spectrum at different spatial locations. The Raman spectrum acts as a chemical fingerprint for different molecules or crystal lattice structures. Combined with a scanning probe capability, the new instrument allows researchers to map out the sample composition with nanometer spatial resolution. To maximize the number of users, this instrument is integrated into the Analytical Chemistry Instrumentation Facility (ACIF) at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). The instrument is also incorporated into upper-division undergraduate laboratory classes in three different departments: Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, and Materials Science and Engineering. Each year, more than 200 advanced undergraduate students gain experience by performing experiments that illustrate the applications of Raman microscopy. This experience helps the undergraduates, who are predominantly first-generation college students from underrepresented groups, move on to careers in high-technology fields or to postgraduate study. Technical Description: Researchers across many disciplines require tools that can characterize the composition of their samples on nanometer to micrometer length scales. In order to characterize complex, heterogeneous samples, it is necessary to perform chemically sensitive spectroscopy measurements (Raman and photoluminescence) with a high spatial resolution (optical and atomic force microscopy). The Raman instrument is highly automated with enhanced capabilities that include polarization sensitive detection, broad-spectrum photoluminescence measurements, and nanometer-scale chemical resolution through Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) that permit it to accommodate the ever-increasing research demands from researchers working in diverse fields. It is enabling the development of materials with novel capabilities, including photoactivated organic crystals, magnon-based heat transport, high band-gap semiconductors, and semiconductor clusters. The creation of new materials, such as topological and strain-activated superconductors that are promising candidates for quantum information processing, is accelerated because samples can be quickly characterized. Engineers are characterizing practical materials such as virus-based biosensors and battery architectures with nanometer resolution, while the composition of microplastic samples is assessed to gauge their environmental impact. 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.