Spectroscopic studies of molecular ions and radicals in the low frequency regime

尽管它们的寿命很短，但分子离子和自由基在许多化学过程中非常重要，例如燃烧，半导体制造和聚合。虽然它们驱动这些环境中的化学反应，但它们的性质还没有得到很好的表征。更全面地了解孤立的活性中间体的性质是探索它们与其他分子相互作用及其在化学反应中作用的第一步。因此，分子离子和自由基的准确表征对我们理解具有经济重要性的过程（如内燃机），对具有全球影响的过程（如污染控制）以及甚至更大规模的过程（如负责宇宙演化的过程）都有影响。

Despite their short lifetimes, molecular ions and radicals are of great importance in numerous chemical processes such as combustion, semiconductor fabrication and polymerization. Although they drive the chemistry in these environments, their properties are not well characterized. A more complete understanding of the nature of isolated reactive intermediates is a first step for exploring their interactions with other molecules and their roles in chemical reactions. Thus, the accurate characterization of molecular ions and radicals has implications to our understanding of processes of economic importance such as combustion engines, to processes with global impact such as pollution control and to even larger scale processes such as those responsible for the evolution of the Universe.