This award to Florida State University is for the development of a unique ultrafast magneto-optical spectroscopy system using the new Split-Florida Helix 25 T magnet at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL). Access to optical probes in high magnetic fields (i.e. > 10 T) is critical to the scientific missions of understanding quantum phenomena and strong electron-electron correlations in condensed matter systems, chemical bonding, and mechanisms of natural reactivity in biological systems. The development of this instrument will enable unprecedented free-space ultrafast and continuous-wave optical investigations in the otherwise inaccessible phase regimes of liquid helium temperatures (4 K) and ultra-high DC magnetic fields (25 T). These experiments will provide insight into fundamental processes that cannot be accessed at zero or low magnetic fields and will have an important impact in areas that include: a) probing the limits of quantum coherence in complex materials through THz measurements of dephasing times, b) exploring quantum mechanical correlations in chemical changes, c) Imaging excitons and spins in organic systems, and d) understanding interactions and changes in oxidation states in organic complexes, including bioproteins.
The new ultrafast spectroscopy system will be available to the international scientific community through the user program at the NHMFL. The instrumentation will enable a transformative alternative to existing methods of materials investigations where photons will probe individual quantum states and interactions that are the origin of electronic and magnetic behavior in materials. The combination of unprecedented free-space optical access and the latest generation of ultrafast laser technology will enable seminal techniques such as multi-dimensional femtosecond spectroscopy, studies in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and magnetic circular dichroism imaging in high magnetic fields. The scientific program addresses fundamental research questions that have implications for our future quality of life and include studying the formation and breaking of Cooper pairs in the superconducting state, the formation of magnetic states in organic semiconductors, the oxireductase - an electron transfer process present in all living organisms, and correlations between excited states in complex biological molecules. This award will enable never-before-possible scientific pursuits while providing unique educational opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers, who will be the primary operators of the instrument.
