The Role of Multiple Chiral Centers in Photoelectron Circular Dichroism

这是一个物理学博士研究项目。实验的目的是研究手性分子（即分子表现出不同的形式，是不可重叠的镜像）中的光电子圆二色性（PECD）。手征在化学和生物学中非常重要，因为许多生命的基石都表现出这种特性--单手性总是受到青睐。例如，生物体只使用左旋氨基酸和右旋糖，而这种现象的根本起源仍然是一个悬而未决的科学问题。为了观察PECD，手性分子将被飞秒激光器发出的强烈的圆偏振光照射。然后电子从分子中以取决于其旋向性的角度不对称地射出。通过对电子的角分布成像，可以详细研究这种现象的起源。一个特别的焦点将是PECD施加的多个手性中心在一个单一的分子，这还没有被研究到任何显着的程度的影响。

This is a PhD research project in Physics. The experimental aims are to investigate photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) in chiral molecules (i.e. molecules exhibiting distinct forms that are non-superimposable mirror images). Chirality is hugely important in chemistry and biology, since many of the building blocks of life display this property - with one handedness always preferred. Living organisms, for example, use only left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars, and the fundamental origin of this phenomenon remains one of the great unanswered scientific questions. To observe PECD, chiral molecules will be irradiated with intense, circularly polarized light from a femtosecond laser. Electrons are then ejected asymmetrically from the molecule at angles that are dependent upon its handedness. By imaging the angular distribution of the electrons, the origin of this phenomenon can be investigated in detail. A particular focus will be the influence on PECD exerted by multiple chiral centers within a single molecule, something that has not yet been studied to any significant extent.