University Times

Pitt has received a $1 million grant to develop a groundbreaking method to advance nanoscale science and technology by allowing scientists to observe, probe and control molecules.

Funding came from the W.M. Keck Foundation.

The technique involves probing molecular structure with femtosecond — a billionth of a millionth of a second — temporal and atomic spatial resolution, leading to new knowledge on activating and harnessing matter at its most fundamental level.

The principal investigator is Hrvoje Petek, professor of physics and chemistry who also is co-director of the University’s Petersen Institute of NanoScience and Engineering. Petek is an expert in the fields of surface femtochemistry and ultrafast microscopy. He invented time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy, the enabling technique for this study.

“In pursuit of this grail, several leading physics and chemistry research groups around the world are exploring different ways to combine the spatial resolution of electron microscopy with temporal resolution of femtosecond laser spectroscopy,” Petek said. “Our goal is to develop methods for interacting with single molecules in order to observe and control how they respond to stimulation by light or electrons to undergo chemical reactions or specific mechanical motion.”

Since 1988, the W.M. Keck Foundation has donated more than $4 million to support research in medicine, engineering and science at Pitt.