This Faculty Early Career Development project aims to develop an integrated research and education program that addresses scientific questions concerning the electrical charge transport, while simultaneously providing significant advances in science and engineering education at Case Western Reserve University. The research program will use terahertz time-domain spectroscopy to obtain data on the conductivity of materials without the need of contacts and, when required, with sub-picosecond time resolution. These capabilities will be applied to examine problems that are difficult to address by other means, including the conductivity of photo-excited insulators and of semiconductor nanoparticles. To understand the nature of the conductivity, measurements will be made of frequency dependence conductivity and its temporal evolution. These research activities, particularly as related to optics and lasers, play a critical role in the coordinated educational activities. The educational program is designed to impact groups ranging from the general public and high-school students to science and engineering graduate students. Emphasis will be placed on advances in curricula and mentoring that will promote the participation of women and other under-represented groups in science and engineering disciplines.
This Faculty Early Career Development project aims to develop an integrated research and education program that addresses unresolved scientific questions concerning electrical charge transport, while simultaneously providing advances in science and engineering education at Case Western Reserve University. The experimental tool that will permit these new scientific measurements is terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. This approach, based on the capabilities of femtosecond pulsed lasers, permits very fast, non-contact measurements of electrical conductivity in many material systems. The method will be used to examine the motion of charges under the influence of an electric field in a variety of scientifically and technologically important bulk and nano-scale materials. The scientific results will be of significance for the disciplines of condensed-matter and materials physics. They also have the potential to impact several major areas of technology, including electronics, optoelectronics, and sensing, in which electrical conductivity is of critical importance. The coordinated educational program is broad based. It will highlight advancing optics and lasers at all levels in education, thus enhancing the workforce in this area. A specific additional aim of the educational program is to increase participation of women and other under-represented groups in science and engineering.
