Résumé
This proposal is directed at the development and application of new tools that can directly ‘watch’ the time evolving structure of molecules and materials. Capitalizing on a recent $6.5M CFI Innovation Fund investment, Siwick will use these tools to investigate how light can be used to control the structure and properties of materials, probe the fundamentals of heat and electronic transport, and interrogate many currently hidden processes occurring in photovoltaic and thermoelectric materials. The proposal directly targets 3 of the 5 the Grand Challenges for the Basic Energy Sciences outlined in seminal US Department of Energy reports and will have enormous impact on both fundamental and applied sciences.