Applications in solid state systems of a tunable far infrared free electron laser

Descriptions of proposed experiments using a free electron laser (FEL) operating in the spectral range 10-1000 kaysers to study solids are described. Characteristics of the FEL include a 3 GHz electron beam corresponding to the frequency of the RF accelerating field of a microtron accelerator, mode-locking, minimum pulse widths of 1-4/100,000,000 for a 100-400 micron output, with relaxation times of more than 1/100,000th sec. The system offers an average power output of over 1 W and serves as a tunable far IR source with an average power density in excess of 1 MW/sq cm. Solid state excitations in the 1 micron to 1 mm range are discussed, and applications for examining heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis through nonlinear spectroscopy and characteristic energies of adsorbed and chemisorbed molecular species on metallic and nonmetallic surfaces through linear spectroscopy.