Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The power of chemical synthesis is only fully harnessed when reaction products are well characterized. In synthetic organic chemistry, multidimensional NMR is an exquisitely capable tool for determining the chemical structure of molecules in solution. However, in solids and thin films, an analogous technique for the determination of solid state nanostructure does not exist. Instead, the nanoscale structures critical in determining material properties are analyzed incompletely using a battery of time consuming techniques. Therefore, a dire need for innovative characterization tools exists within the field of materials chemistry. Medial ultrasound imaging uses acoustic vibrations of 1-100 MHz to image tissues, with higher frequency allowing for improved resolution. The acoustic resonances of nanostructured materials are known to occur around 10-100 GHz and are often measured through their effects on UV-Vis absorption spectra. The acoustic properties of nanostructured materials are also sensitive to the strength of intermolecular forces and other weak to moderately strong interactions which give rise to self-assembly. These interactions are extremely important to the targeted design of solid-state structure, but are difficult to characterize directly. We request funds to construct a 2D Acousto-Optical spectrometer from commercially available components. The instrument will comprise a sensitive UV-Vis spectrometer and a laser capable of selecting and exciting acoustic vibrational modes between 7-1100 GHz. It will deliver 2D spectra as a function of both optical and acoustic frequencies, providing a high-throughput technique sensitive to material nanostructure and intermolecular forces. The insights provided by this instrument will inform chemical synthesis in an unprecedented way and deliver an important competitive advantage to Canada.