Charles Schmuttenmaer

Efforts in the Schmuttenmaer group over the last five years have opened up the far-infrared (FIR) region of the spectrum to direct time-resolved studies. The importance of time-resolved studies in general has been demonstrated over the last 20 years, using visible, UV, and IR lasers. New frontiers in chemistry, physics, biology, optics, electronics, and communications have been unveiled. It is well known that dynamical information can only be obtained when the observation time is short compared to the timescale at which the system is evolving. For example, a photograph of a waterfall with a slow shutter speed reveals only blurred drops. However, a series of high-speed photographs will display the individual drops, as well as the manner in which they coalesce and break apart. There now exists the possibility to perform FIR time-resolved spectroscopy on a sub-picosecond timescale.