in microwave spectroscopy and chemistry
One FTMW spectrometer has been constructed and another is left to finish.
We are currently involved in the design and implementation of multiple different microwave spectroscopic and dielectric techniques.
One goal of the Grubbs Group is to help provide insight into
The CP-FTMW instrument has been built and is currently being fit with a laser ablation source. It features a fast, 50 GS/s arbitrary waveform generator and The CP-FTMW is a hybrid of that developed by Prof. Brooks Pate and that utilized by Prof. Stephen Cooke. Instead of the "typical" high-powered (≥0.5 kW) designs used by the Pate group or the "low-power" designs used by the Cooke group (5 or 10W), our instrument features a 40 W solid state amplifier with a TTL control to generate a polarization microwave pulse in ≤5 μs.
The spectrometer has already been employed to study multiple molecular systems. We are currently collaborating with Prof. Durig of UM-Kansas City to look at ring molecules along with collaborating with Profs. Sean and Rebecca Peebles on van der Waals interactions with large fluorinated organic species. We are currently in preparation of a manuscript on a few fluorinated organics highlighting the experimental details.
One FTMW instrument, functional in the 3-26 GHz range, has been reassembled from its original owner, designer, and constructor, Brian Howard at Oxford University. It features a good sensitivity (Q is on the order of 20000) while also having an ability to lower the Q value in order to broaden search regions with microwave foam. The system is automated and set up on individual software written by Brian Howard in-house. The spectrometer is fitted with Helmholtz coils to negate the Earth's magnetic field to aid in the determination of open-shell species.
Currently, projects with this instrument include searches for N2-O2 and CO-O2 van der Waals complexes.
Our group is currently working on design and implementation of a 70-110 GHz microwave experiment. This is to be used on our actinide-containing molecules and complexes.
In addition to the high frequency spectrometer, we are collaborating with some professors at Missouri S&T in Electrical Engineering to work on microwave photonics spectroscopic and microwave thermography techniques.
Dr. Grubbs is the Associate Advisor for the Mars Rover Design Team of the Student Design and Experiential Learning Center at MS&T. This year MS&T placed 5th Utah's URC and placed 10th in Poland's ERC, both international competitions. Furthermore, we were the only team from the U.S. represented at this year's ERC event.
