The Keutsch Group

Josh

Josh DiGangi

3rd Year Graduate Student

Education

  • Ph.D. Chemistry University of Wisconsin - Madison, May 2011 (expected)
  • B.S. Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2006

    • Research

    The focus of my research involves the construction of an ultra-compact LIF instrument for detecting HCHO atmospheric concentrations. As a great deal of the bulk of a laser system can be the laser itself, the key to accomplishing this is a pulsed air-cooled fiber laser. Since a fiber laser is only microns thick, it can be coiled into a very small volume, and yet provide a large surface area, allowing it to be compact and air-cooled. As the fiber laser can be pumped from a simple diode laser, this results in an extraordinarily compact laser. Using a White-type multipass cell with 353 nm laser light, the HCHO fluorescence is observed using a PMT with a low-pass filter, the counts from which are electronically gated. This allows for high time resolution to maximize the S/N ratio of the HCHO features around 353 nm, yielding high sensitivity measurements. The high sensitivity, small size, and overall ruggedness for this system will make it an ideal field instrument for HCHO detection in anything from a ground-based field mission to stratospheric UAV missions.

    Publications

  • Hottle et.al. “A Laser Induced Fluorescence Based Instrument for In-Situ Detection of Formaldehyde”. In Press.
  • Huisman et.al. “A High Sensitivity Laser-Induced Phosphorescence Instrument for the in situ Detection of Glyoxal”. Analyt. Chem., 80, 5884 (2008).
  • Widicus Weaver et.al. “Continuous-wave Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy of the N2+ Meinel System (2-1) Band”. J. Mol. Spect., 249, 14 (2008).
  • J.P. DiGangi, “Inexpensive Interferometric Wavemeter for Visible/NIR Lasers and Rovibronic Spectrum of the A-X 2-1 Band of N2+ Utilizing Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy“. University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign, B.S. Thesis., 2006.

    • Conference Presentations

  • J.P. DiGangi, Y. Ding, B.J. McCall, Inexpensive Interferometric Wavemeter for Visible/NIR Lasers", 61st International Symposium for Molecular Spectroscopy, Columbus, Ohio, June 19-23, 2006. (talk) Abstract PPT

    • Awards and Other Distinctions

  • High Distinction - Department of Chemistry (2006)
  • Worth Huff Rodebush Award Receipient (2006)
  • Member - American Chemical Society (2006-present)
  • Member - National Society of Collegiate Scholars (2004-present)
  • National Merit Special Scholarship Recipient (2002)

    • Email: jdigangi_AT_chem.wisc.edu

    Updated 11-10-08 by Josh DiGangi.