Presidential Young Investigator/High Resolution Laser Spectroscopy of Clusters

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Professor Blake with support from the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program is developing innovative laser spectroscopic techniques for the investigation of chemical processes within extreme cosmochemical and man-made environments such as molecular clouds, planetary atmospheres, plasma deposition chambers, and heterogeneous catalysis vessels. Both laboratory and remote sensing programs are planned. This research is supported by a Presidential Young Investigator Award (PYI). A particular area of emphasis is the study of the spectral response and chemical reactivity of atomic and molecular clusters that are intermediate in size between small molecules and macroscopic samples. Clusters and cluster chemistry in cooled jet expansions or ion traps are being examined using various techniques, including sub-Doppler laser sideband spectroscopy in the far-infrared, optically pumped infrared fluorescence, time-resolved pump/probe experiments, and resonance ionization mass spectrometry. Cosmochemical searches will be made at various observatories for spectral features identified in the laboratory.