SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATIONS OF EXOTIC CARBON, SILICON AND SULFUR MOLECULES

Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

In this project funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program of the Chemistry Division, Professors Charles Alcock, Michael McCarthy, and Patrick Thaddeus of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics will undertake spectroscopic studies of exotic carbon, silicon, and sulfur molecules, with particular emphasis on positively- and negatively-charged molecular ions. Using highly sensitive laboratory instrumentation, they seek to discover and characterize key reactive intermediates that are believed to play important roles in industrial processes, including combustion and semiconductor growth processes, and in astronomical chemistry. Such studies are of fundamental interest as well: they contribute to comparative studies of bonding between different elements in the Periodic Table, providing further evidence of the rich architecture of the chemical bond, and establish important benchmarks for theoretical chemistry. The broader impacts include integrating research and education in a setting that gives scope to student initiative and encouragement to independent investigation. The proposed studies should have an impact in a number of areas of scientific research and technological innovation, because of the important role that carbon and silicon chemistry play in fields as diverse as combustion, materials science, and astronomy. The results of these studies may ultimately enable important industrial processes to be monitored and optimized by spectroscopic means, and lead to an improved understanding of how complex molecules can be synthesized from simple starting materials.