Repair of Essential Equipment Within Individual Laboratory for Fundamental Research on Catalysis for Energy

This proposal requests funds for restoring two solid-state lasers that are essential for the PI’s externally funded research program. The total funds requested are $22722 with PI’s cost share. The requested funds will be used to purchase replacements of electronic components (a high power printed circuit board (PCB) with trigger and an assembly PCB power control board) and an electrooptical device (Pockels cell) that have broken down. Without these replacements, the two lasers cannot be turned on, and one of the lasers will not lase. The PI’s research program is about fundamental science of catalysis. Catalysis contributes more than 35% of the global gross domestic product and is involved in 80% of all manufactured goods in developed economies. The laser restoration will allow the PI’s group to continue laser spectroscopic measurements of quantumstate specific energies and structures of catalytically active substances. The knowledge of the fundamental properties about the catalytic substances enables the establishment of plausible reaction pathways that speed up reactions with reduced energy input and produce preferred reaction products. The near-term research objectives are to uncover the energy maps and electronic characteristics of selected lanthanide compounds through precise spectroscopic measurements. Lanthanides are a group of heavy elements in the Periodic Table of Elements and the critical elements declared by the US government to the national security and economy. The results from the research will be published in peer-reviewed journals, presented in national or international conferences, and used for future proposal submissions.