"I’m very excited about this grant, which will allow me and my group to advance our highly-controlled reactive collision experiments. In this project, we aim to not only get a detailed understanding of fundamental chemical reactions and their underlying (stereo)dynamics, but to even control their outcomes. This is something that was unimaginable only a few years ago. I’m very pleased that I can expand my group and that we can work on this exciting project for the next five years", Onvlee says.
Control molecular interactions
Physical chemists have long dreamed of controlling interactions between individual molecules and atoms at the quantum level. Advances in crossed-molecular-beam methods and new technologies now allow for highly detailed studies of molecular collisions. However, fully controlled reactive collision experiments with predetermined outcomes remain a significant challenge. These experiments require precise control and detection of all relevant parameters of reactants and products. A unique crossed-beam setup, which combines Zeeman deceleration and velocity map imaging and available at Radboud University, offers a solution to this challenge. This setup has already been used for high-resolution inelastic collision studies, and Jolijn and her group have begun exploring reactive scattering with it. In the subsidized project, the research team will perform the first fully controlled reaction experiment with predetermined outcomes.
The researchers will upgrade their setup to reach collision energies as low as 6 mK, implement laser alignment to manipulate reactant orientations and employ 3D imaging to detect product orientations. “First, we will investigate resonances and nonstatistical effects in a prototypical insertion reaction to demonstrate our ability to reach low energies. Simultaneously, we will use laser alignment and 3D imaging in a separate setup to study the effects of molecular orientation in collisions involving H2. Ultimately, we will merge these techniques for a fully controlled reaction experiment, allowing us to dictate the reaction outcome”, Onvlee explains.
The IQ-SCORES project promises profound insights into reaction dynamics at the quantum level and the ability to control reaction outcomes with exceptional precision. This groundbreaking research will revolutionize our understanding of molecular reaction dynamics and provide a highly sensitive test for theoretical models.
Spectroscopy of Cold Molecules
Onvlee is Assistant Professor in the Spectroscopy of Cold Molecules department, which is part of IMM. They develop and use unique experimental techniques to control, collide and image individual molecules in the gas-phase and investigate how molecules collide, react, and exchange energy, focusing on the influence of molecular structure on these fundamental processes. The research goal of Onvlee’s group is to fully understand and control chemical reactions on the molecular level by investigating reactive collisions where chemical bonds are broken and formed between individual gas-phase molecules. They use advanced experimental techniques to study these reactions in extremely high detail.
ERC
The ERC, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. ERC aims to make the European research base more prepared to respond to the needs of a knowledge-based society and provide Europe with the capabilities in frontier research necessary to meet global challenges. ERC Starting Grants are for researchers with 2-7 years of experience since the completion of their PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.
We warmly congratulate Jolijn with her grant!
