Celebrating 25 Years of Two-dimensional Infrared (2D IR) Spectroscopy

Coherent two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy was first demonstrated by Hamm, Lim, and Hochstrasser in 1998 as a frequency resolved "pump probe" technique to probe molecular structure and dynamics on the picosecond timescale. Over the past 25 years 2D IR has since become a powerful spectroscopic technique, to solve key problems in chemistry, molecular biology, and materials science. Implementations of 2D IR spectroscopy have continued to evolve. For example, pulse-shapers and new-generation ultrafast lasers have lowered the barriers to new researchers entering the field and shifted the focus towards more challenging applications. There has been a continued push to expand the frontiers of optical spectroscopy based on initial 2D IR developments, including Transient 2D IR, 2D Visible-IR, 2D IR-Visible, spatially resolved IR or visible, SFG 2D IR and surface-enhanced multidimensional methods among others. This JCP Special Issue features recent advancements in coherent multidimensional spectroscopy inspired by 2D IR and explores the future of this thriving field.

Guest Editors: Carlos Baiz, Minhaeng Cho, Jens Bredenbeck, Thomas Jansen, Amber Krummel, Sean Roberts, with JCP Editor Jennifer Ogilvie.