July 9, 2019
Feature

PNNL Research Wins William F. Meggers Award

Society for Applied Spectroscopy honors outstanding PNNL paper

Spectroscopy

PNNL’s Tim Johnson and lead researcher Tanya Myers were recently selected for the Applied Spectroscopy William F. Meggers Award. Presented through the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS) by member organization Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS), the Meggers award is given annually to the authors of the outstanding paper appearing in Applied Spectroscopy.

For their winning paper, Tim and Tanya created a spectroscopic library of 57 liquids for which they measured the complex refractive index, data which can be used for optical modeling and other purposes. They developed improved protocols using shorter cells, multiple path lengths, and improved data reduction methods that resulted in spectra of both improved linearity and higher fidelity.  The paper also presented results using the derived data as applied to an optical modeling scenario. 

“Accurate values of the optical constants are critical for modeling the real-world reflectance spectra of liquids, since liquid species can occur in many forms,” says Tanya. “The research represented in this paper helps fulfill this need by providing optical constants in a spectral database that can be used by researchers around the world to better detect and identify hazardous chemicals using infrared spectroscopy.” 

Major contributions for the research also came from current and former PNNL staff members Bruce Bernacki, Jerome Birnbaum, Tyler Danby, Steve Sharpe, Matt Taubman, and Russ Tonkyn. The award will be presented in October at the FACSS SciX conference.

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About PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in sustainable energy and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science. For more information on PNNL, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Published: July 9, 2019

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