The focus of our group is understanding the fundamentals of energy transfer in molecules which affects the molecule’s motion and its behaviour with other molecules. Lasers are a precise way of giving molecules energy so we can monitor their response and learn about their motion.
We have pioneered the use of Two-Dimensional Laser Induced Fluorescence (2D-LIF) for determining spectroscopic information from large molecules including van der Waals clusters which are weakly-bound clusters of atoms or molecules. These are of interest since they represent the interactions occurring between molecules immediately prior to a chemical reaction.
The 2D-LIF technique involves measuring the wavelengths of light that are emitted from a molecule after being excited by a laser. When the wavelength of the laser is changed, the wavelengths being emitted also change. By observing the relationship between laser and emission wavelengths we are able to determine information about the structure of the molecule.
Velocity Map Imaging (VMI) is a technique we use to detect fragments or electrons from a weakly-bound cluster that has been broken apart by a laser. This technique is coupled with REMPI (resonance enhanced multi-photon ionisation) and TOF (time of flight mass spectroscopy).