Ultrafast science uses extremely short pulses of light to observe dynamics of atoms and electrons in molecules and materials.
Electrons move within atoms on the time scale of attoseconds (one attosecond = one-billionth of one-billionth of a second.) It's this motion that determines the properties of materials and the outcomes of chemical reactions. The ability to understand what's happening at these incredibly fast time scales is an area of great interest across many fields, including physics, chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, and electrical engineering.
Ultrafast light pulses can go beyond observing electron dynamics, they can also control those dynamics. The ability to control these ultrafast sub-atomic processes will unlock a host of potential new technologies to address renewable energy conversion, information storage and processing, photodynamic therapies in medicine, and more.
In 2023, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini (Emeritus Professor), Anne L’Huillier, and Ferenc Krausz for their discoveries toward the generation of attosecond light sources, enabling the study of molecular dynamics at previously inaccessible time scales. In 1999, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Ahmed Zewail for his work on the ultrafast dynamics of chemical reactions. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1999/summary/
The NSF NeXUS Facility builds off discoveries in attosecond light generation and ultrafast laser technology to put new research capabilities into the hands of the scientific community. The heart of NSF NeXUS is a first-in-the-US kilowatt-class laser, capable of driving the generation of ultrafast light pulses at a rate of 100,000 pulses per second. Light from the NeXUS laser will feed three distinct "beamlines" to generate tailored light pulses matched to specific experiments. The beamlines in turn are coupled to an array of experimental "end stations" that can accomodate solid, liquid, or gas samples and enable different experimental measurements.
The NSF NeXUS Facility provides speed, variety, and accessibility that has not previously been available to researchers. The speed is due to our first-in-the-US, 100 kHz repetition rate laser that enables a quantum leap in sample throughput. Measurements that previously have required days will now be completed in minutes. Experiments requiring herculean effort and resources will become routine at NSF NeXUS.
The variety is from our system design that allows researchers to implement many combinations of lasers, beamline, and end stations. NSF NeXUS will help researchers across a wide range of scientific fields advance our understanding of nature and technology.
NSF NeXUS will help level the scientific playing field by making state-of-the-art ultrafast technology accessible to scientists across disciplines, institutions, and career levels. Operational funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation allows NSF NeXUS to provide lab time at no cost through a competitive proposal review process.
The NSF NeXUS Facility was conceived by Ohio State scientists from the chemistry, physics, and engineering fields, with the purpose of creating an interdisciplinary scientific community around the applications of ultrafast science. NSF NeXUS aims to benefit:
Chemistry
> Electronic and molecular dynamics
> Liquid phase and interfacial chemical dynamics
> Photochemistry and energy conversion
> Biomolecules
Atomic Molecular & Optical Physics
Materials Science
> Quantum materials
Chemical Engineering
> Catalysis and energy storage
Electrical Engineering
> Next generation electronic materials
NSF NeXUS holds calls for proposals twice a year. Proposals are selected for lab time through a peer review process. Learn more about eligibility and how to get started on our Become a User page.
The NSF National eXtreme Ultrafast Science Facility (NeXUS) is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under NSF Award Number 2410901. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. National Science Foundation.