Dr. Hacksung Kim is Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University and IR & Raman lab lead in Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering division. His current research focuses on the application of resonance Raman spectroscopy to in-situ characterization of solid catalysts and energy materials.

Before joining Northwestern/Argonne, he studied unidentified IR emission bands in the field of molecular astrophysics and astrochemistry as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley after receiving a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry for studies in cryogenic vibrational spectroscopy from Seoul National University.

Recently, he used advanced synchrotron X-ray spectroscopies to determine a structure-reactivity relationship in a CoO_x water-splitting oxygen-evolution catalyst using a combined resonance Raman, synchrotron soft X-ray absorption, 3^d-3p RXES (Resonant X-ray Emission), 3^d-3^d RIXS (Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering), and high-energy X-ray PDF (Pair Distribution Function) analysis.

As an IR/Raman lab lead and LCA (laser-controlled-area) supervisor, he maintains

1. in-situ deep UV to near IR resonance Raman and in-situ FTIR systems.
2. ns-pulsed Ti:Sapphire laser system pumped by a Q-switched, intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YLF laser, which generates continuously tunable wavelengths in the deep UV to near IR region with fundamental, second-(SHG), third-(THG), and fourth-harmonic generation (FHG) outputs.
3. nanosecond SHG, THG, and FHG Nd:YVO₄ laser, He-Cadmium, and discretely wavelength-tunable Ar ion and Ar/Kr ion lasers for resonance Raman spectroscopy.