title: Ti:sapphire, broadband vibrational sum-frequency generation spectrometer with a counter-propagating geometry.
abstract: We report the development of a counter-propagating, broadband vibrational sum-frequency generation spectrometer based on a Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier. We present simple procedures for aligning the spectrometer and for setting the timing of the IR and visible pulses. We demonstrate that the use of this geometry offers a number of important advantages over a co-propagating geometry, including a high dynamic range, reduced nonresonant background signal at buried interfaces, and minimal beam deviation upon changing samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Brindza
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Fourkas
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation; D007834:Lasers; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015233:Models, Statistical; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014025:Titanium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide