This research, supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program, is making important contributions to the understanding of energy flow and intramolecular dynamics in the excited electronic states of polyatomic molecules. Professor Hudson's research group has developed unique spectroscopic capabilities that allow the study of the initial motion of a molecule that has been excited by a single vacuum ultraviolet photon from its ground electronic state. Resonance Raman spectroscopy performed with excitation wavelengths as short as 125 nm will be used to provide new information on the electronic symmetry, geometry, and coupling mechanisms of molecular excited states. Emphasis will be placed on triatomic molecules that undergo rapid changes in geometry when excited, polyatomic molecules with unexplained vibronic progressions in absorption, vibronic coupling in forbidden transitions, and highly excited vibrational states of molecules with interesting motional coordinates.
