In this award, Professors Itzhak Ben-Itzhak and Charles L. Cocke of Kansas State University, together with their graduate and undergraduate student researchers, will collaborate with the group of Matthias F. Kling of the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (Garching, Germany), in a study of the dynamics of molecular dications produced with attosecond light pulses. Specific systems to be studied include acetylene dication and nitric oxide dication. In the case of acetylene, they will search for evidence of acetylene-vinylidene isomerization. The experiments combine the COLTRIMS technique developed at Kansas State with advanced extreme ultraviolet/attosecond pulse generation methods developed at the MPQ. This international collaborative research project is supported jointly by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division and the Office of International Science and Engineering of NSF as well as by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).
Electrons are the glue which bind the atomic constituents of molecules together. Their motion is on the attosecond timescale. Scientists like Ben-Itzhak, Cocke and Kling are using attosecond light pulses as a stroboscopic means of taking snapshots of the electron dynamics in molecules. The ultimate aim of research like this is to develop a nuanced picture of the ways in which chemical reactions take place. Besides the broad scientific impact of this work, the student researchers from Kansas State University working on this project will conduct a significant portion of their work at a premier laboratory in Germany -- thus helping to develop the next generation of globally-engaged young scientists.
