A vacuum-ultraviolet source for the study of interstellar and prebiotic molecules

真空紫外光（VUV; ~100 - 200nm）是一类需要真空才能自由传播的紫外光，因为它被空气中的氧气以及大多数其他分子强烈吸收。由于这种特性，它在小分子的光化学中起着重要作用，包括在太空中发现的有机分子和那些被认为在生命起源中起作用的分子。我们请求拨款购买便携式台式紫外光源和紫外光谱仪。该设备是我们的PI （Cooke）和合作申请人（Momose）的研究项目急需的，并将被UBC的其他研究人员用于研究环境化学和量子物质。提出的VUV系统将用于电离天体化学相关的含碳分子以进行质谱检测，并作为益生元分子的原位VUV光化学源。这些工具对于回答有关太空中碳分子的起源以及这些分子在被辐射破坏之前能存活多久的问题至关重要。支持的研究实例包括星际空间中芳香族分子的形成、多环芳香族烃的光化学以及手性氨基酸的不对称光解。申请人和共同申请人已经是天体化学和光化学领域的领导者，只是缺乏这种关键的紫外源来获得无法通过任何其他更具成本效益的方法获得的重要结果。这些研究工具将成为设备的一个组成部分，供本科生、研究生和博士后使用，并将支持多个研究小组中许多受训者的研究活动。他们将在化学物理实验方面提供宝贵的专业知识和实践培训，培养加拿大急需的一套技能。

Vacuum-ultraviolet light (VUV; ~100 - 200 nm) is a class of ultraviolet light that requires a vacuum to travel freely since it is absorbed strongly by oxygen in the air, as well as by most other molecules. Because of this property, it has an important role in the photochemistry of small molecules, including organic molecules found in space and those thought to play a role in the origins of life. We request funds for a portable, table-top VUV source and VUV spectrometer. The equipment is urgently needed to support the our research programs of the PI (Cooke) and co-applicant (Momose), and will be used by other researchers at UBC to study environmental chemistry and quantum matter. The proposed VUV system will be used to ionize astrochemically-relevant carbon-bearing molecules for their mass spectrometric detection, and as a source for in situ VUV photochemistry of prebiotic molecules. These tools are critical to answer questions about the origins of carbon molecules in space and about how long these molecules can survive before they are destroyed by radiation. Examples of research to be supported include the formation of aromatic molecules in interstellar space, photochemistry of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and asymmetric photolysis of chiral amino acids. The applicant and co-applicant are already leaders in the areas of astrochemistry and photochemistry and are only lacking this critical VUV source to gain access to important results that cannot be obtained by any other more cost-effective method. These research tools will be an integral component of the equipment that will be used by a diverse set of undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and will support the research activities of many trainees in multiple research groups. They will provide valuable expertise and hands-on-training on chemical physics experiments, producing a skill set that is in high demand in Canada.