Mr. Jacob T. Stewart

Professional Information

Graduate Student: Physical Chemistry
Project: High-resolution spectrum of C₆₀
B.S., Brigham Young University, 2008

Bio

Me and my family at Ben's house for the 2010 Christmas party

I was born in Oregon, but I've lived in eight different states (and two years in the Philippines) in my life. I graduated from high school in Bullhead City, Arizona and then went on to Brigham Young University to study Chemistry. I graduated magna cum laude in 2008 with a B.S. degree and came to the University of Illinois. While at BYU I researched with Adam Woolley on using DNA in nanofabrication schemes.

I am married to the lovely Alysa Smith Stewart and have two wonderful little boys, Benjamin and Levi.

Current Research

I'm interested in using quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) to perform high-resolution spectroscopy on interesting molecules. QCLs are a fairly new kind of laser that is allowing laser spectroscopy techniques to be applied in the mid-infrared, allowing spectroscopists to probe vibrations of molecular species. Currently, I'm working with Brian Brumfield to obtain a high resolution spectrum of buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀) so that an astronomical search can be performed for this highly symmetric and highly stable molecule. I'm also interested in obtaining a high resolution spectrum of the protonated water dimer (H₅O₂⁺) which could better help us understand the fundamentals of proton transport in aqueous solutions.

Papers

2	B. E. Brumfield, J. T. Stewart, and B. J. McCall "High-Resolution Spectroscopy of the ν₈ Band of Methylene Bromide Using a Quantum Cascade Laser" Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy (2011), 266, 57-62.
1	B. E. Brumfield, J. T. Stewart, S. L. Widicus Weaver, M. D. Escarra, S. S. Howard, C. F. Gmachl, and B. J. McCall "A Quantum Cascade Laser cw Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer Coupled to a Supersonic Expansion Source" Review of Scientific Instruments (2010), 81, 063102.

Talks

5	J. T. Stewart, B. E. Brumfield and B. J. McCall "Rotationally-resolved Infrared Spectroscopy of the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Pyrene (C₁₆H₁₀) Using a Quantum Cascade Laser-based Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer" Sixty-Sixth International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2011.
4	J. T. Stewart, B. E. Brumfield and B. J. McCall "High-resolution Mid-infrared Spectroscopy of Deuterated Water Clusters Using a Quantum Cascade Laser-based Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer" Sixty-Sixth International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2011.
3	J. T. Stewart, B. E. Brumfield, M. D. Escarra, C. F. Gmachl and B. J. McCall "High-Resolution Spectroscopy of the ν₈ Band of Methylene Bromide Using a Quantum Cascade Laser-Based Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer" Sixty-Fifth International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2010.
2	B. E. Brumfield, J. T. Stewart, M. D. Escarra, C. F. Gmachl and B. J. McCall "Astrochemistry and Spectroscopy of C₆₀: The search for the 8.5 μm Vibrational Band" 239th American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2010.
1	B. E. Brumfield, J. T. Stewart, M. D. Escarra, C. Gmachl and B. J. McCall "The Influence of Free-Running FP-QCL Frequency Jitter on Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy of C₆₀" Sixty-Fourth International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2009.

Posters

3	J. T. Stewart, B. E. Brumfield and B. J. McCall "Rotationally-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy of the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Pyrene (C₁₆H₁₀)" Midwest Astrochemistry Meeting, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 2011.
2	B. E. Brumfield, J. T. Stewart and B. J. McCall "Continued Development of a Sensitive Mid-IR Cavity Ring-down Spectrometer Using a Quantum Cascade Laser" Midwest Astrochemistry Meeting, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 2010.
1	B. E. Brumfield, J. T. Stewart and B. J. McCall "Mid Infrared Continuous Wave Cavity Ringdown Spectrometer for Acquisition of the High-Resolution Spectrum of C₆₀" Second Midwest Astrochemistry Meeting, University of Illinois, 2009.

Other Publications

J. T. Stewart
"High-Resolution Gas Phase Infrared Spectroscopy of Water Clusters and Cluster Ions Using Quantum Cascade Lasers"
Research Prospectus for Preliminary Examination, University of Illinois, 2011.

Pre-McCall Group Publications

J. T. Stewart, H. A. Becerril, W. Yang, M. G. Larsen, and A. T. Woolley "DNA-templated nanowires as sacrificial materials for creating nanocapillaries" Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering (2008), 7035, 70350H.