Christian Luca

Graduate Student
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Education

Research

I am currently involved in research entailing the use of a Difference Frequency Generation (DFG)laser , which probes the mid-infrared (mid-IR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum of light (specifically, 2-5 micrometers). The mid-IR region is significant in that it enables laboratory spectroscopists to examine the vibrational transitions of molecules and molecular cations that are of astrochemical interest, such as protonated methanol, CH₃OH₂⁺, and protonated methane, CH₅⁺.

Furthermore, in combination with the SCRIBES (Sensitive Cooled Resolved Ion BEam Spectroscopy) experiment, which is being worked on by Andrew Mills, it will be possible to probe the rovibrational transitions in these molecular cations and other species of astrochemical interest. The rovibrational transitions could be probed due to a supersonic expansion of the discharge source that leads to adiabatic cooling of the ions under investigation, and a high resolution is made possible due to kinematic compression.

At present, I am engaged in the construction of a DFG laser using a Ti:Sapphire laser, which utilizes the incoming beam from a diode laser that pumps a Nd:YVO₄ crystalline matrix emitting radiation at 532 nm through frequency doubling achieved by a lithium triborate (LBO) crystal. The Ti:Sapphire laser is versatile in that it emits radiation over a broad spectrum that covers the wavelength region from approximately 700 nm to 1000 nm. A Nd-YAG laser will also be used in order to obtain the difference frequency laser beam in the mid-IR region, which has a power output level on the order of a few mW.

Links

• Physics Today

• ChemFinder.com