This instrumentation development project will result in a new type of dynamic light scattering (DLS) apparatus: a Speckle Ensemble Correlator, for which a working prototype already exists. The use of area CCD detectors for "multispeckle" dynamic light scattering has been progressing steadily. The general approach has been to auto-correlate each pixel, and then to average the results afterwards, all in software. This new method, Speckle Variance Spectroscopy (SVS), is dramatically different and offers advantages in terms of both simplicity and applicability. In effect, a linescan camera becomes a Speckle Ensemble Correlator (SEC) in which all of the averages are explicitly-computed ensemble averages of a single exposure of the camera; neither time averages, temporal auto-correlations, nor image storage are necessary. The broader impact of the project centers on the fact that it will be done at an undergraduate Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). The instrument development project will involve the PI and 2-4 undergraduate research assistants over the course of two years. In addition, the resulting instrument will be used to support a series of undergraduate research projects for years to come.
