A Syracuse University scientist will use funding from his prestigious National Science
Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to build a new, interactive
exhibit at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in
Syracuse. The exhibit will feature natural phenomena occurring on timescales shorter than
one second.
Timothy Korter, assistant professor of chemistry in SU's College of Arts and Sciences,
was awarded a five-year $640,148 CAREER Award to both create the exhibit and to
expand his research on terahertz (THz) radiation-very low-frequency light waves that
scientists believe could be used for everything from DNA identification and quality
control in the pharmaceutical industry, to identifying illegal drugs and explosives in
public places. The CAREER Award recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who,
early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership.
The THz radiation Korter studies is generated using a special laser that produces very
short pulses of light lasting a femtosecond, or one quadrillionth of a second. Korter's lab
is one of only a handful of university-based research labs in the world exploring the
potential of THz radiation for chemical applications.
"THz is invisible to the naked eye," Korter says. "Because it's very difficult to produce in
the laboratory, THz is a highly underutilized region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The
technology that enables us to access this region of the spectrum has only been developed
over the last decade."
THz is located between infrared light and microwave radiation in the electromagnetic
spectrum-or left of the "red" side of the visible light range. THz waves can safely pass
through almost any kind of material except metal and create detailed images of solid
objects without the harmful effects of x-rays. More significantly, THz waves enable
scientists to probe the chemical properties of materials based on the vibration of the
molecules that make up the substance.
The exhibit for the MOST, to be developed over the next three years, will help visitors
better understand THz by answering the question: "What happens in less than a second?"
The displays will explore both physical and biological phenomena that occur in units of
time from one second down to a femtosecond. The exhibit will also explore how
technology has been used to observe events that proceed on timescales faster than the
human eye can register.
Korter will also use the CAREER funding to develop and study computer simulations of
the way molecules stretch, bend and vibrate, and compare those movements with analyses
of real molecules using a THz laser spectrometer.
"Every molecule has a unique chemical signature in the THz region," Korter says. "That
property enables us to detect and identify the chemical composition of a substance. For
example, explosives have a unique fingerprint in the THz region, as do drugs."
Korter's research will contribute to the development of a national database of THz
fingerprints for different kinds of chemical compounds and help scientists better
understand how these signatures are generated. "We need to learn more about the origin
of these signatures, or spectra," Korter says. "It's an area that is not well understood or
straightforward."
In 2006, Korter's lab was the first in the world to develop a model of the THz fingerprint
for HMX, a military-grade explosive, and to understand the chemical origins of its
spectral signature. The research was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry and
featured in the Feb. 3, 2006 issue of Science, and the Feb. 6, 2006 issue of Chemical and
Engineering News.
Korter earned a bachelor's degree at Beloit College and a Ph.D. at the University of
Pittsburgh. Prior to coming to SU in 2003, Korter was a postdoctoral researcher at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology.
