Physics Assistant Professor Luca Argenti is one of 73 scientists across the nation and the only one from Florida selected for the program, which includes a $750,000 grant over five years.

Argenti’s work is in energy science. His goal is to advance the study of electronic excitations in matter, which are at the core of any chemical transformation, including those used to produce energy from fossil fuels or to harvest it from sunlight.

“Electronic excitations are extremely difficult to monitor in real time because they take place on a fantastically short timescale — tens or hundreds of attoseconds, where one attosecond is one billionth of a billionth of a second,� says Argenti, who has a joint appointment in the College of Optics and Photonics. “To give you an idea of the scale, one attosecond is to a second what a second is to twice the life of the universe.�

Argenti moved to the United States from Italy in 2016 to join Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ because of its reputation in this field, thanks to the pioneering work of Professor Zenghu Chang in the college’s Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers. Chang has twice set the record for fastest light pulse.

The Department of Energy award program, in its 13th year, is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the early career years, when many scientists do their most formative work.

To be eligible, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory who received a doctorate within the past 10 years.

View the and descriptions of their projects.

“Supporting our nation’s most talented and creative researchers in their early career years is crucial to building America’s scientific workforce and sustaining America’s culture of innovation,� says Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry. “We look forward to their achievements in the years ahead.�

Last year, physics Assistant Professor Michael ChiniÌý’12±Ê³ó¶Ù was selected for the same award. Chini also works in the area of attosecond physics and together with Argenti they will co-chair the ATTO (Attosecond Science and Technology) conference in 2021. They will bring the most influential biannual world congress in this field to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ that summer, a move to help bring attention to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ as a powerhouse for this field of study.

“Federal agencies allocate their funds based on the recommendations of scientific leaders from all around the world,â€� Argenti says. “Holding ATTO 2021 here can go a long way to enhance Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½Â visibility abroad.â€�

Argenti holds multiple degrees including a doctorate in chemistry with a thesis in theoretical atomic physics from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa in Italy. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Stockholm University in Sweden and at the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain.

Chini, who has been an assistant professor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ since 2015 and earned his doctorate here in 2012, will receive $150,000 each year for the next five years to conduct research in the area of atomic, molecular and optical physics, which holds the promise of providing new ways to generate energy.

The highly competitive DOE awards are designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the early career years, when many scientists do their most formative work.

To be eligible, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory, who received a doctorate within the past 10 years. Awardees were selected from a large pool of university- and national laboratory-based applicants. Selection was based on peer review by outside scientific experts, according to the DOE.

Chini was one of 54 university awardees nationwide and three in Florida.

“Supporting talented researchers early in their career is key to building and maintaining a skilled and effective scientific workforce for the nation. By investing in the next generation of scientific researchers, we are supporting lifelong discovery science to fuel the nation’s innovation system,� said . “We are proud of the accomplishments these young scientists have already made, and look forward to following their achievements in years to come.�

Chini’s area of expertise is ultrafast and strong-field laser interactions with solids, attosecond physics and coherent control. His research is also supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which recognized him with a Young Investigator Program grant worth almost $500,000 in 2016.

The research Chini will conduct for the DOE focuses on using lasers to study and control chemical reactions that create or store energy. In principle, lasers can be used to induce chemical reactions by tuning the laser frequency to match vibrational frequencies of specific bonds, and depositing a large amount of optical power into a molecule. This way, bonds can be selectively formed or broken. However, the technique generally fails because energy naturally redistributes quickly within molecules. Ultrashort-pulsed femtosecond lasers provide a way to deposit the required energy before the molecule has a chance to react, and potentially a way to steer the chemical-reaction outcomes but that, too, poses challenges.

Chini’s work aims to track and control time-dependent electronic and vibrational motion in molecules exposed to very intense laser fields, such as those used to instigate molecular reactions. The research will provide new insight into the mechanisms behind strong-field laser-control techniques, and will help reveal the optimal conditions for laser-driven reactions.

The research is in a new area for Chini’s lab, which previously focused on attosecond dynamics in solid-state materials. But the topic is very familiar to Chini, whose doctorate research at Kansas State University and in the Institute for the Frontiers of Attosecond Science and Technology at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ focused on attosecond dynamics in gas-phase atoms and molecules.

“I’m excited to get started. I hope my work will help advance our knowledge to develop new techniques for harnessing energy, something we all need every day,� Chini said.

It has been a good year for the Chinis.

Chini’s wife, Jacquelyn, is an assistant physics professor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. Her work focuses on enhancing physics education and earlier this year the National Science Foundation named her one of its early career grant recipients.

College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson said he is fortunate to have such dedicated and talented faculty throughout the college.

“They truly are a dynamic duo,â€� Johnson said. “The work they are doing – in quite different areas of physics – is changing the world. I am grateful that we were able to attract two scientists of such high caliber to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.â€�

Final details of the awards announced today are subject to grant and contract negotiations between DOE and the awardees.

The Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) group awarded Michael Chini, an assistant professor of physics, and Sean Pang, an assistant professor in CREOL (College of Optics and Photonics), seed money for their work in the area of optics.

“Dr. Chini joined the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Physics faculty in the Fall of 2015 and has already secured enough external funding to support several graduate students. The ORAU Ralp E. Powe Award is another recognition of his talent and the cutting-edge research he is planning to do in his lab,â€� said Eduardo Mucciolo, chair of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Physics Department.

Chini is researching the use of ultrashort pulses to measure and control electron motion in solid materials, which could aid in the development of high-speed electronics. These electronics could lead to better remote sensing equipment and the capability to send more encrypted information faster than currently possible.

Before becoming an assistant professor at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2015, Chini received his Ph.D. in Physics from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in 2012 and his B.S. degree in Physics from McGill University in 2007.

These one-year awards, which began June 1, are intended to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty and result in new funding opportunities, according to the organization.

“This award will help undergraduates and master students get involved with our research at Optical Imaging System Lab (OISL),� said Pang. “It will definitely accelerate the research in our lab. We also have the chance to connect with a couple of research groups in Oak Ridge National Lab, which I am very excited to collaborate with.�

Pang said he and OISL focus on developing computational imaging platforms in both visible and X-ray regimes. They are developing new X-ray imaging modalities that enhance the tissue-specific contrast in 3D tomographic imaging. In the future, they hope to see low dose “color� X-ray images that reveal sub-nanometer structural information that you cannot get from conventional CT images. Pang’s research will have several key applications in medical diagnostics and therapies.

Pang received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology. Before joining Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, he conducted his postdoctoral research in X-ray imaging at Duke University. He has a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a bachelor’s degree in Optical Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The Powe Award Committee awarded 35 grants for the 2016-17 academic year. Full-time assistant professors at ORAU member institutions within two years of their initial tenure track appointment at the time of application are eligible to apply. Research areas must fall in one of five disciplines including Engineering and Applied Science, Life Sciences, Mathematics/Computer Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Policy, Management, or Education.