Partner 4. Stuttgart University (USTUTT)
1. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Stuttgart
Pfaffenwaldring 57
70550 Stuttgart - Germany

Scientific team

Name	Position		Task
M. Dressel	Full professor		team leader
B. Gompf	Scientific staff		near-field microscopy
B. Gorshunov	Post-doctoral fellow		submm and FTIR spectroscopy
S. Mair	PhD student		near-field spectroscopy
G. Untereiner	Technician		chemical and technical support

Objectives
The group at Stuttgart has the unique possibility to irradiate biological samples with electromagnetic radiation in the spectral range from 10 GHz to 1.5 THz at variable power up to 100 mW using tunable, monochromatic, continuous wave (cw) sources like Gunn diodes, IMPATT diodes and backward wave oscillators (BWO). The continuous coverage of this frequency range with a high spectral resolution of up to 10-6 is necessary if resonant excitations are important. One objective is to study different detectors on their energy and time dependence (pulses) in order to develop a proper dosimetry in this range of frequency. In collaboration with the biophysics groups at the same site USTUTT will investigate the effects of this THz radiation on the structure and function of biological systems (molecules, membranes, cells, tissue) by using spectroscopic methods in the infrared (IR) and submillimeter (submm) range. The high resolution (0.01 cm-1 and better) and excellent signal-to-noise ratio allows to detect even small changes. We will develop special optical arrangements for time-dependent studies and modulation spectroscopy.

Workplan
With the experience gained in the field of optical spectroscopy in the IR and submm range, the USTUTT team will mainly contribute to the project workpackages as described below:

Workpackage 1 (27 person-months)
The group will perform optical transmission and reflection measurements on samples developed by UFRANK using two FTIR spectrometers (Bruker IFS 113v, Biorad) in the range from 5 to 15000 cm-1 and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (Epsilon) in the range from 2 to 40 cm-1 which employs twelve different Backward Wve Oscillators (BWO) as tunable monochromatic cw sources. WP-1 is mainly devoted to spectroscopic investigations of biological samples in the range 100 GHz to 20 THz. ENEA will make its Compact FEL available for measurements in the range from 70 to 200 GHz. After the basic spectroscopic studies will be completed, ENEA will set up a femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser synchronised to the FEL source, to perform time-resolved spectroscopic measurements on enzyme reactions in collaboration with UFRANK.

Workpackage 2.2 (14 person-months)
The BWO will be made available to irradiate biological samples at frequencies from 10 GHz to 1.5 THz at a power level tunable up to 100 mW in a controlled way, following procedures to de defined together with ENEA, TAU and ICEmB.