Electronic structure and dynamics of solvated chromophores: femtosecond photoelectron spectroscopy from a liquid water jet

• Applicant: Dr. Andrea Lübcke
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2011 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 167377349

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) allows the direct observation of transient electronic structure in atoms and molecules, and was very successful in probing structure and dynamics of gas-phase molecules and surfaces. Based on the recent development of liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy in our institute, we propose now to study time-resolved photoelectron spectra of solvated molecules in a liquid jet. Photophysical and photochemical processes in solvated chomophores will be initiated by ultraviolet or visible fs laser pulses and probed by time-delayed photoionization of valence electrons, projecting the electronic structure into the ionization continuum. A liquid-jet source was designed following proven designs and is combined with a magnetic bottle spectrometer suited for the detection of electrons with low kinetic energies (0-10 eV). Experiments will characterize charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) and internal conversion processes in model chromophores. We will attempt to identify dominant solute-solvent interactions by comparison to gas-phase and cluster data and corresponding ab initio theory.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants