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Phontonics Online: JILA Extends Laser ‘Combing' Method To Identify Large, Complex Molecules

JILA laster

JILA instrument that uses a frequency comb to detect large, complex moleculesbased on the precise frequencies, or colors, of light they absorb. Themolecules are chilled and probed inside this chamber at temperatures nearabsolute zero. Credit: Spaun/JILA

JILA physicists have extended the capability of their powerful laser “combing” technique to identify the structures of large, complex molecules of the sort found in explosives, pharmaceuticals, fuels and the gases around stars.

The advance, described in a Nature paper published online May 4, was made possible by a cooling method developed by Harvard University ers, who co-authored the study. The JILA-Harvard work boosts the might of spectroscopy, the study of interactions between matter and light, which informs many fields, such as chemistry, physics, astronomy, imaging and remote sensing.

 May 4, 2016 Full Article