Laser Spectroscopy of Ions and Clusters

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In this project in the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Richard J. Saykally of the University of California, Berkeley, will study hydrogen tunneling dynamics in hydrated proton clusters and in non-classical ions using the new technique of Direct Laser Absorption Spectroscopy in Fast Ion Beams. He will also use this technique to study small carbon clusters to elucidate their structure and dynamics. Tunneling dynamics in partially solvated metal cations and the far infrared vibration-rotation tunneling spectra of weakly bound complexes will also be examined. There is also a theoretical component to the project consisting of the inversion of far infrared spectra of neutral weakly bound complexes to determine the potential energy surfaces. %%% Increasing numbers of scientists turn to large-scale computer modeling of molecular structure and function in order to design new drugs, catalysts, and artificial enzymes, to name a few applications. However,incomplete knowledge of the weak interactions of chemistry, such as van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding, is a serious impediment to acquiring realistic results from these calculations. Intermolecular potentials are a critical part of the input required for these computer codes as well as for models of chemical reactions in liquids, gas-surface interactions, and protein dynamics. The studies in this project aim at collecting and analyzing data which will be useful for determining some of these intermolecular potentials.