Hexapole Focusing of Optically-Pumped Molecules: Vibrational Promotion of Electron Emission

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Alec M. Wodtke of the University of California - Santa Barbara and his post-doctoral and graduate research students will investigate electron ejection from metal surfaces when they are bombarded with vibrationally excited molecules. The goal of these experiments is to develop a better understanding of the ways in which molecules and surfaces interact. The work may help scientists to develop better models for heterogeneous catalysis - an industrially and economically important process. Besides the broader scientific impacts of the proposed studies, the young scientists working on this project will gain expertise in a number of sophisticated scientific techniques, including laser spectroscopy, ultrahigh vacuum and molecular beam methods.