Structure and dynamics of molecular and cluster anions via photoelectron imaging and photofragment spectroscopy

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In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Andrei Sanov from the University of Arizona and his post-doctoral and graduate student colleagues will investigate the electronic processes governing chemical reactions through photoelectron imaging and photofragment spectroscopy. The Sanov group will specifically investigate (1) the time-resolved dynamics and interference effects in bond-dissociation reactions of molecular and cluster anions, (2) the structure and photodetachment dynamics of molecular and cluster anions and (3) the solvent-enabled and solvent-controlled reactivity in molecular cluster anions. These studies will be carried out in the gas phase in the collision-free conditions of the group's negative-ion beam source, coupled with pulsed laser excitation and photoelectron imaging. Photoelectron imaging provides a powerful new tool with which to study chemical reactions in exquisite detail. In addition, the photoelectron images can be used a quantum photographs which provide deep insights into the fundamental details of chemical bonding. The images themselves are used to illustrate quantum aspects of chemical bonding in undergraduate and graduate teaching. Besides the broader scientific and educational impacts of the imaging techniques being pioneered in Sanov's laboratory, Sanov will continue to train a new generation of scientists working at the intersection of chemistry and physics.