Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Syracuse University researcher’s NSF award to fund new exhibit at the MOST

Friday, July 10, 2009, By News Staff
Share

Judy Holmes
(315) 443-2201

A Syracuse University scientist will use funding from his prestigious National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to build a new, interactive exhibit at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in Syracuse. The exhibit will feature natural phenomena occurring on timescales shorter than one second.

researchTimothy Korter, assistant professor of chemistry in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded a five-year $640,148 CAREER Award to both create the exhibit and to expand his research on terahertz (THz) radiation-very low-frequency light waves that scientists believe could be used for everything from DNA identification and quality control in the pharmaceutical industry, to identifying illegal drugs and explosives in public places. The CAREER Award recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership.

The THz radiation Korter studies is generated using a special laser that produces very short pulses of light lasting a femtosecond, or one quadrillionth of a second. Korter’s lab is one of only a handful of university-based research labs in the world exploring the potential of THz radiation for chemical applications.

“THz is invisible to the naked eye,” Korter says. “Because it’s very difficult to produce in the laboratory, THz is a highly underutilized region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The technology that enables us to access this region of the spectrum has only been developed over the last decade.”

THz is located between infrared light and microwave radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum-or left of the “red” side of the visible light range. THz waves can safely pass through almost any kind of material except metal and create detailed images of solid objects without the harmful effects of x-rays. More significantly, THz waves enable scientists to probe the chemical properties of materials based on the vibration of the molecules that make up the substance.

The exhibit for the MOST, to be developed over the next three years, will help visitors better understand THz by answering the question: “What happens in less than a second?” The displays will explore both physical and biological phenomena that occur in units of time from one second down to a femtosecond. The exhibit will also explore how technology has been used to observe events that proceed on timescales faster than the human eye can register.

Korter will also use the CAREER funding to develop and study computer simulations of the way molecules stretch, bend and vibrate, and compare those movements with analyses of real molecules using a THz laser spectrometer.

“Every molecule has a unique chemical signature in the THz region,” Korter says. “That property enables us to detect and identify the chemical composition of a substance. For example, explosives have a unique fingerprint in the THz region, as do drugs.”

Korter’s research will contribute to the development of a national database of THz fingerprints for different kinds of chemical compounds and help scientists better understand how these signatures are generated. “We need to learn more about the origin of these signatures, or spectra,” Korter says. “It’s an area that is not well understood or straightforward.”

In 2006, Korter’s lab was the first in the world to develop a model of the THz fingerprint for HMX, a military-grade explosive, and to understand the chemical origins of its spectral signature. The research was published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry and featured in the Feb. 3, 2006 issue of Science, and the Feb. 6, 2006 issue of Chemical and Engineering News.

Korter earned a bachelor’s degree at Beloit College and a Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to coming to SU in 2003, Korter was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Men’s Soccer Team Gives Back to Syracuse Community for Season of Support
    Friday, June 2, 2023, By Kathleen Haley
  • June 30 Deadline Set for Fiscal 2023 Year End Business
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By News Staff
  • DPS Accepting Sign-Ups for R.A.D. Summer Session
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By Alex Haessig
  • Syracuse Stage Adds 2 Musicals to 50th Anniversary Season
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By Joanna Penalva
  • Supporting, Advocating for Trans Youth Will Help Them Thrive As Adults
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By Daryl Lovell

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

NFL, Eagles and Chiefs All Set To Win The Economics Game In Super Bowl LVII

Rodney Paul, director and professor of sport analytics in the Falk School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner story “The economics of the Super Bowl: Hosting, gambling, ads, and more.” The article talks in-depth about all of the economics that…

CEOs Requiring In Person Work Is Hurting Diversity

Arlene Kanter, director of the Disability and Policy Program and professor in the College of Law, was interviewed for the Business Insider article “Some CEOs are pushing workers to return to the office, but it could come with a cost:…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.