Up Close: Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry at Strathclyde University, Glasgow
- PDF / 900,913 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 604.8 x 806.4 pts Page_size
- 9 Downloads / 169 Views
Strathclyde University, nominally one of the newer universities, had its origins in 1796 when it was known as Anderson's Institution. Anderson hoped to provide in his will for the establishment of a university with faculties of law, divinity, medicine and arts. In fact, the funds only allowed, initially, for the appointment of one professor who taught philosophy, physics and chemistry. The inclination toward the practical disciplines was a continuing feature of the development of Strathclyde. Medicine came, and eventually went, but the closest approach to divinity was perhaps a onetime student, David Livingstone, the missionary explorer. The culmination of this selectivity was to be found in the title of the institution before university status was conferred in 1964, which was the Royal College of Science and Technology. Though chemistry was taught from the inception of the institution, the first professor of chemistry, Thomas Graham, was only appointed in 1830. He was an excellent choice, and his work on diffusion of gases, which made him internationally recognized, enhanced the University's reputation. One of his students was James Young, the founder of the oil industry, who extracted Scottish shale oil commercially, and who endowed a chair of technical chemistry to interact with the rapidly developing chemical industry. The close relationship between the Strathclyde chemistry department and industry continues today with many and varied collaborative projects. With 40 members of staff, Strathclyde has one of the major chemistry departments in the United Kingdom, with a diversity of research interests. I shall describe only a few of the themes. 72
Organic Crystals and Optoelectronics The limitations of communication with conventional electronics devices have led to a search for optical systems which can handle a vast increase in signal processing. The optoelectronic devices available are based on inorganic materials, such as lithium niobate, which can be grown highly pure, and possess the required crystal structures to give nonlinear optical properties. Certain organic materials have also been shown to have nonlinear optical properties. Organics have the advantage, from a synthesis point of view, of allowing changes to be made in the chemical structure which may improve their performance. The key to using organic materials is the growth of very pure and good quality crystals. This is a difficult area of work, but over many years Prof. Sherwood and coworkers, Drs. Sheen and Roberts, have developed and refined the techniques of crystal growth to become one of the leading groups in the field. In parallel with the crystal growing, they have also developed characterization techniques which are essential for regulating the progress of the work. Drs. Cruickshanks and Bailey, who have previous experience in determination of thermal conductivities by using thermal lens effects produced by intense laser radiation, have extended their work to the measurement of the interaction of laser light with the organic crystals. A typ
Data Loading...
