University of Freiburg
Institute of Physics
Experimental Atomic and Molecular Physics
sitanath.mondal(at)physik.uni-freiburg.de
Microsolvation effects on the photoionization and subsequent decay processes in small biomolecules
In this project we study the photoionization of small biomolecular building blocks like amino acids, nucleobases and their simpler analogs, with a focus on the effects that an aqueous environment can have on these processes. Even the presence of single water molecules in so-called micro-solvation complexes can significantly affect molecular ionization energies and completely change the post-ionization dissociation dynamics. A special focus of this project is on non-local secondary autoionization processes like electron-transfer mediated decay and intermolecular Coulombic decay that can only occur in the presence of molecular neighbors. To study such processes, we use XUV and X-ray radiation from large-scale research facilities like synchrotrons, free electron lasers (FEL) and HHG facilities, ideally in conjunction with photoelectron photoion (multi) coincidence techniques. The goal of the project is a deeper understanding of such non-local ionization processes and the quantitative description of their energetics and dynamics.
Supervisor: Frank Stienkemeier
