This thesis will cover work that I have completed relating to the field of terahertz (THz) science. My work has consisted of generating tunable, narrowband THz pulses in a table-top optical setup and using both narrow- and broadband THz pulses to study various material systems. Broadband THz pulses were used...
This thesis will cover my work relating to the developing field of terahertz (THz) science and technology. It will present experimental and theoretical studies investigating the optical and electrical properties of various material systems using novel THz imaging and spectroscopy techniques. Due to its low photon energy, THz imaging and...
The continued development of organic semiconductor materials relies on an understanding of the relationship between optoelectronic properties, molecular structure, and molecular interaction. Several detailed studies of electronic properties in functionalized polyacene materials are presented. A computational model which allows the extraction of charge generation and transport properties from experimental data...
To obtain a mechanistic understanding of the chemical processes, techniques that offer a frame-by-frame visualization of molecular structure during a reaction are of vital importance. Numerous efforts and advances have been made in order to acquire such vivid molecular “movies”, especially in the electronic excited state. Ultrafast molecular spectroscopy method...
Understanding the impact of inter-molecular orientation on the optical proper-ties of organic semiconductors is important for designing next-generation organic (opto)electronic and photonic devices. However, fundamental aspects of how various features of molecular packing in crystalline systems determine the nature and dynamics of excitons have been a subject of debate. Toward...
Low-dimensional electronic materials offer a platform to observe biological processes with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the closest physical analog to an ideal 1D system and can be scaled and integrated into multiplexed electronic circuitry. The molecular structure of a CNT is also biocompatible, making them...
The optical response of metallic structures is dominated by the dynamics of their free electron plasma. Plasmonics, the area of optics specializing in the electromagnetic behavior of heterogeneous structures with metallic inclusions, is undergoing rapid development, fueled in part by recent progress in experimental fabrication techniques and novel
theoretical approaches....