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Anne Myers Kelley Physical and Analytical Chemistry: Laser Raman Spectroscopies |
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Professor and Chair, Chemistry and Chemical Biology amkelley@ucmerced.edu 209-228-4345 |
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Our group's research focuses on using the inelastic laser light scattering technique known as resonance Raman spectroscopy to study the molecular details of how materials interact with light. Analysis of resonance Raman spectra allows us to determine the specific atomic-level motions that occur in a molecule or nanocrystal immediately after it absorbs light. This information is particularly relevant to photochemistry, and our group has studied the detailed mechanisms of very fast photochemical reactions that are related to those involved in human vision, plant photosynthesis, photography and xerography. A current research direction is development of the two-photon analog, resonance hyper-Raman spectroscopy, as a tool to explore the structures and dynamics of two-photon allowed states of molecules and materials. The large enhancement of the scattering intensities observed for molecules adsorbed to the surfaces of silver and gold nanoparticles (surface enhanced Raman and hyper-Raman scattering) is being explored with an eye toward possible bioanalytical applications. We have also applied surface-enhanced Raman scattering to help understand the efficiency enhancement of organic polymer-based solar photovoltaic devices by metallic nanostructures. A recent area of interest is in using Raman spectroscopies to probe how the vibrations (phonons) of semiconductor nanocrystals couple to the electronic states of these materials. |
