This Major Research Instrumentation project is jointly funded by the Division of Materials Research and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.<br/><br/>Nontechnical Description:<br/>Scientists at New Mexico Highlands University, a Hispanic-serving institution in rural Northern New Mexico, have acquired a Raman instrument. The instrument is both a microscope and a spectrometer, utilizing laser light to obtain valuable information about vibrational structure of molecules and crystals on the micrometer scale. Such information helps scientists to understand the relationship between structure and properties of various man-made materials or minerals as well as to assist in the development of novel, improved materials for semiconductor and pharmaceutical applications. This Raman instrument is also used to provide state-of-the-art training to graduate and undergraduate students in research and education. In addition, this instrument is available to other researchers in the region.<br/><br/>Technical Description:<br/>The key features of this instrument are: (i) microscopic sampling; (ii) an ability to perform measurements over a wide range of sample temperatures (77 K to 873 K); (iii) a high spectral resolution; and (iv) multiple excitation lasers. Scientists employ this Raman microscope in a broad range of research projects, such as structural studies of organic and organometallic materials with promising photoelectronic properties; relating the crystal structure to pharmaceutically and industrially relevant properties in substituted acetamides, lactams and cyclic Imides; and multimode identification and dating of minerals.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.