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High-resolution imaging of cold and controlled molecular collisions using recoil-free resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization detection schemes

Project description

High-resolution imaging of cold molecule interactions

Collisions between cold molecules offer a great opportunity to study how chemical reactions proceed at extremely low temperatures and how we can control them. They could also help answer key questions regarding reactions that take place in interstellar space. To date, the field remains largely unexplored, due to a lack of efficient experimental techniques. The EU-funded HRICOMC project will pioneer approaches that will allow scientists to investigate the dynamics of collisions between cold molecules with unprecedented resolution. In particular, these approaches will combine crossed molecular beam experiments, multistage Zeeman deceleration and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation.

Objective

The study of collisions between cold molecules is currently an area of intense research interest, which opens many new possibilities to study the most fundamental aspects of molecular interactions and brings the goal of manipulation and control of chemical reactions within reach. Moreover, fully understanding of cold molecular collisions could shed new light on some important puzzles in the Earth’s atmospheric and interstellar chemistry. However, to date, the study of cold molecular collisions remains largely unexplored, due to a huge challenge in the experimental approach. A new crossed-beam scattering experimental method combined with a multistage Zeeman decelerator and recoil-free resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) detection schemes proposed in this project allows us to investigate the dynamics of cold and controlled molecular collisions with unprecedented resolution in a new, previously inaccessible, regime. The focus will be on addressing some valuable and intriguing scientific problems relevant to atmospheric and interstellar chemistry. The objectives of this proposal will be to observe and understand scattering resonances in low-energy inelastic scattering of He with NH and ND, find a solution to the long-standing “interstellar oxygen problem” in the barrierless radical-radical reaction of O with OH, and test the validity of the statistical treatment of ozone formation in atmospheric chemistry models in the exchange reaction of O with molecular oxygen. The combination of the scattering data that will be obtained and the high-level quantum scattering calculations will provide a critical and unique test for current models of chemical processes occurred in the Earth’s atmosphere, interstellar space. The proposed research will be a major breakthrough in the emerging research field of cold molecular collisions and lay a foundation to manipulate and control chemical reactions.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

STICHTING RADBOUD UNIVERSITEIT
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 187 572,48
Address
HOUTLAAN 4
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands

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Region
Oost-Nederland Gelderland Arnhem/Nijmegen
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 187 572,48
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