MRI: Acquisition of a Confocal Raman Microscope to Advance Research and Undergraduate Teaching in Southern Colorado

This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation program. Colorado College is acquiring a confocal Raman microspectrometer system to support the research of Professor Eli Fahrenkrug and colleagues Neena Grover, Amanda Bowman, Adam Light and Donald Clayton from Colorado College. This microspectrometer allows research in a variety of fields such as polymorph crystallization and bipolar electrochemistry, solid-state ionics and nanolaminates, nucleic acid metal binding, cold plasma physics, in-vivo sensors, surface chemistry, virology, and spin-crossover behavior.

In general, Raman spectromicroscopy is a powerful tool to probe chemical reactions and the chemistry of surfaces. Raman spectroscopy is based on the scattering of light by chemical species based on their electronic and vibrational properties, and spectromicroscopy takes advantage of these light scattering properties to perform microscopy on a very wide range of chemical samples.

The award of the Raman microspectrometer is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels. It is the only instrument of this type in Southern Colorado, and a wide range of institutions that serve undergraduate and underrepresented students are participants in research and teaching plans involving the instrument. The Raman microspectrometer particularly provides chemical analysis to projects spanning heterogenous catalysis, geochemistry, crystal growth, plasma physics, structural biology, biophysics, plasmonics, and thin films.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.