Change slightly in usable energy
Every time a screen flickers to life, or nourishes a house, energy is transferred from light to something useful. But for all his omnipresence, scientists do not fully understand the process that transmits light energy through material.
A subsidy from the US Department of Defense enables UC Riverside scientists to tackle that mystery. The research is intended to deepen the scientific understanding of one of the most complex interactions of physics.
The four-year-old, $ 1 million subsidies finance a cooperation effort between UCR-theoretical chemist Bryan Wong and experimental chemist Yadong Yin. Together they will examine plasmonic materials that can transfer energy when they are struck by light. Their findings can free up the way for sensors that are able to detect molecules on spor levels and other technologies with defense and civil applications.
“Even with the current supercomputers, we still do not fully understand how a collection of electrons behaves when they are disturbed by a single light stuff,” Wong said. “This work is about closer to the complexity of how nature really works. It is always moving, always changes.”
The Wong laboratory focuses on the development of quantum mechanical models to simulate the behavior of electrons in excited conditions, an area known as electronic dynamics. Unlike many systems that scientists model the balance, these processes are non-balance, which means that they occur under constantly changing circumstances.
“But almost everything in nature is dynamic. Almost all chemical, material and biological processes are out of balance. So we are interested in what happens during those moments of change,” said Wong.
This research could promote the development of materials that detect the presence of a single molecule and convert detection into a usable signal, which is something that current technologies cannot yet perform. Such precision can go to fields, ranging from national security to medical diagnostics.
Wong, from the Department of Chemistry, brings expertise in theoretical modeling to the project for more than ten years. Yin, his partner on the subsidy, will make new materials in the lab to validate the simulations. The approach reverses the traditional order of discovery.
“We usually create new materials and then ask theoreticians to explain their behavior,” said Wong. “This time we start with theoretical predictions and matching building materials. It is not the type of project that Dr. Yin usually accepts, which makes it exciting for both of us.”
In addition to scientific goals, the subsidy also supports the development of the workforce. It includes financing to train various scientists in the early career in both computational and experimental research methods. Wong and Yin see this as an opportunity to prepare young researchers for the kind of complex, interdisciplinary work that requires modern science.
“Part of our mission is to improve the research capacity by training scientists who can think about boundaries, whether models through slightly induced processes or perform careful laboratory experiments,” said Wong. “I am pleased to get the chance to train the next generation of scientists and to discover a deeper understanding of these complicated materials.”
Although the subsidy is based on fundamental science, the insights that it produces ultimately support practical innovations, from improved solar technologies to more efficient catalysis – the process of accelerating a chemical reaction without the catalyst itself being consumed. And while the researchers penetrate a deeper understanding of light interactions, they also invest in the future of science itself.
