In this award to Yale University, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Charles Schmuttenmaer of the Chemistry Department and Prof. Daniel Prober of the Applied Physics Department and their graduate research students will work collaboratively to further the development of terahertz (THz) technology to directly measure charge transfer in the condensed phase. Prof. Prober and his group will develop antenna-coupled, superconducting micro- hot electron bolometer detectors of THz radiation which Prof. Schmuttenmaer's group will use to detect the THz radiation emitted when intramolecular and/or intermolecular charge transfer occurs. The ultimate goal of this research is to learn intimate details of how molecules conduct. The broader scientific impact of this research will come through application of the methods developed in this work to study interesting systems -- e.g. devices made with organic conductors.
Besides the broader technological impacts of the research being supported, the research students working on these projects will be exposed to a unique interdisciplinary research environment. In addition, both Prof. Prober and Prof. Schmuttenmaer are in engaged in a number of outreach activities to groups of underserved middle- and high-school students in New Haven and Texas.
