Once Andrei Tokmakoff gets his new laser laboratory operational later this year, he will use the world’s shortest infrared light pulses to pluck molecular bonds like a stringed musical instrument.
Tokmakoff, the Henry G. Gale Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry, arrived at the University of Chicago in January to tackle new problems in biology with the aid of ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy methods that he has developed.
“He does very sophisticated spectroscopy, in particular vibrational spectroscopy,” said Richard Jordan, professor and chairman of chemistry. “He has developed advanced, laser-based methods that can probe how the bonds in molecules stretch and bend.”
http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/03/11/watery-research-theme-flow-through-new-tokmakoff-lab