Professor Edward C. Lim is supported by a grant from The Physical Chemistry Program to study intramolecular energy flow in excited electronic states. Professor Lim uses molecular beam and laser excitation techniques to prepare molecular systems in very specific excited states which are then probed as a function of time. These studies are motivated by a desire to find a route to mode-specific or bond-specific chemistry through controlled localization of absorbed laser radiation. The experimental approach employed by Professor Lim utilizes time-resolved photoionization and laser-induced fluorescence in seeded molecular beams. Picosecond and nanosecond lasers are used to probe structural and dynamic properties via frequency- and time-domain experiments. These experimental techniques are being used to explore a large variety of interesting chemical systems including: aromatic carbonyls, halogenated anthracenes and van der Waals molecules.
