Optical and Microwave Absorption Spectroscopy of Metal Containing Molecules

该奖项由化学系化学结构、动力学和机理项目资助，使亚利桑那州立大学坦佩分校化学系的Timothy C.Steimle教授能够利用基于激光的新技术，通过实验确定含金属小分子的最基本化学行为和性质。我们将研究两类相互关联的分子：a)双原子分子，其中含有Th、Hf和Yb的重金属原子；b)三原子分子，Si3和SiH2。这两类分子都表现出与传统理论描述不符的振动和电子运动。分子磁偶极矩和电偶极矩将分别通过塞曼和斯塔克激光光谱分析进行实验测量，这两个磁矩和电偶极矩将分别通过塞曼和斯塔克激光光谱分析进行实验测量，这些磁矩和电偶极矩被用于产生超冷样品。这些数据对于拟议的实验至关重要，这些实验使用含有重金属的分子(例如THO、TH和YBF)通过检测电子的电偶极矩(EEDM)和原子核的极矩来测试标准模型的各种扩展。基于激光的Si3和SiH2的研究将探索电子运动和振动运动之间的自旋轨道和其他相对论诱导耦合的机制。在与理论家的合作下，将开发和评估解决相对论效应的新方法。所有的研究都将在气相中进行，这与新的理论最相容。与开始的元素(C、O和H)相比，在元素周期表末尾包含元素(如Th、Hf和Yb)的分子很难理解和建模，但在催化、电池或太阳能电池等领域具有重要的技术意义。这些分子的许多独特性质可以追溯到这样一个事实，即形成化学键的电子被加速到接近光速的速度。在这些不寻常的速度下，相对论效应变得重要，一般来说，它会加强和缩短化学键。此外，据预测，在这些相对论条件下，以前未观察到的现象将大大增强。一种这样的现象是电子与预计将存在于原子核区域的非常大的电场的相互作用。这项研究中产生的数据对于设计精确测量这些影响的复杂实验至关重要。比较预测和测量的电子电荷分布对于验证现代基本粒子模型的物理领域是至关重要的。因此，这里研究的含有金属的微小分子是了解物质新性质的实验室，产生的信息通常是从拥有粒子加速器的大型研究机构获得的，但成本只是它的一小部分。

This award, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanisms - A Program of the Division of Chemistry, enables Prof. Timothy C. Steimle of the Department of Chemistry, Arizona State University at Tempe to experimentally determine the most fundamental chemical behavior and properties of small metal containing molecules using new laser-based technologies. Two interrelated classes of molecules will be investigated: a) diatomic molecules containing heavy metal atoms of thorium, hafnium and ytterbium, and b) the triatomic molecules, Si3 and SiH2. Both classes of molecules exhibit vibrational and electronic motions that defy conventional theoretical description. Molecular magnetic and electric dipole moments, which are used in the proposed schemes to produce ultracold samples and are routinely predicted by theorists, will be experimentally measured from the analysis of Zeeman and Stark laser spectroscopy, respectively. The data is critical for proposed experiments that use heavy metal containing molecules (e.g. ThO, ThS and YbF) to test various extensions of the Standard Model through the detection of the electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) and the anapole moment of nuclei. The laser-based studies of Si3 and SiH2 will investigate the mechanism of spin-orbit and other relativistic induced coupling between electronic and vibrational motions. In collaboration with theorists, new methodologies for addressing relativistic effects will be developed and assessed. All studies will be performed in the gas-phase, which is most compatible with new theories.Molecules containing elements near the end of the periodic table (e.g. Th, Hf, and Yb) are poorly understood and modeled compared to those at the beginning (C, O and H), yet are of great technological importance in, for example, catalysis, batteries or solar cells. Much of the unique properties of these molecules can be traced to the fact that the electrons forming the chemical bonds are accelerated to speeds approaching the speed of light. At these unusual speeds, relativistic effects become important which, in general, strengthen and shorten chemical bonds. Furthermore, it is predicted that under these relativistic conditions, here-to-fore unobserved phenomena become greatly enhanced. One such phenomenon is the interaction of the electron with the very large electric fields predicted to exist in the region of the nuclei. The data generated in this study are critical for sophisticated experiments designed to precisely measure these effects. A comparison of predicted and measured charge distribution of the electron is critical to the field of physics for validation of modern models for fundamental particles. Hence, the tiny metal containing molecules studied here are the laboratory for understanding new properties of matter, generating information typically obtained at large research facilities that possess particle accelerators, but at a small fraction of the cost.