Photochemistry, photophysics and spectroscopy of polyatomic molecules

光引发的化学和物理过程是地球生命的核心。早期对自然光驱动过程（如光合作用和视觉）的科学研究，不可避免地让好奇的人们对这些现象提出了最基本的问题。“光的本质是什么？”“光是如何与物质相互作用的？“这些答案为新技术、健康改善和财富创造提供了基础，超出了第一批提问者最疯狂的想象：静电复印、光纤通信、光学数据存储、捕获和存储太阳能的人工方法、废水处理的光化学方法、某些类型癌症和黄斑变性的光动力疗法。目前，整个行业都基于激光的产生及其在光子器件、微加工和许多其他应用中的应用。更多的事情即将发生;光驱动的分子逻辑器件、光量子计算、光化学和光物理过程的相干控制以及许多其它应用正在积极研究之中。在我们的研究小组中，我们继续解决有关物质吸收光的化学和物理效应的基本问题，我们获得的信息继续在这些和其他重要领域中找到应用。

Chemical and physical processes initiated by light are central to life on earth. Early scientific studies of natural light-driven processes such as photosynthesis and vision led curious minds inevitably to ask the most fundamental questions about these phenomena. "What is the nature of light?" "How does light interact with material substances and with what consequence?" The answers have provided the basis for new technologies, improvements in health, and wealth creation beyond the first questioners' wildest imaginations: xerography, fibre optic communications, optical data storage, artificial methods for the capture and storage of solar energy, photochemical methods of wastewater treatment, photodynamic therapy for some types of cancer and for macular degeneration. Whole industries are presently based on the generation of laser light and its use in photonics devices, micromachining and a host of other applications. More is on the horizon; light-driven molecular logic devices, optical quantum computing, coherent control of photochemical and photophysical processes, and numerous other applications are under active investigation. In our research group we continue to address fundamental questions about the chemical and physical effects of the absorption of light by matter, and the information we obtain continues to find application in these and other important areas.