Laser Chemistry

Helmut H. Telle received BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in physics from the University of Koln (Germany), in 1972, 1974 and 1979 respectively. Between 1980 and 1984 he spent research periods at the Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto (Canada), the Centre d' Etude Nucleaire de Saclay (France) and the Laboratoire des Interactions Ioniques, University of Marseille (France), Where he was mainly engaged in research on molecular reaction dynamics exploiting laser spectroscopic techniques. Since 1984 he has been Professor for Laser Physics in the Department of Physics, Swansea University (Wales, UK), where he has pursued research and development of laser systems and spectroscopic techniques for trace detection of atomic and molecular species, applied to analytical problems in industry, biomedicine and the environment. His expertise includes the techniques of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), resonant ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) and Raman and Near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). More recently, he has once again returned to his roots associated with fundamental aspects in atomic and molecular physics, ranging from precision spectroscopy of exotic species, like positronium and anti-hydrogen, to probing of reactions at surfaces utilizing ultra-short laser pulses. He has held visiting appointments at the Centro de Investigacion en Optica, Leon (Mexico), the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). Angel Gonzalez Urena obtained a chemistry degree from the University of Granada (Spain) in 1968, followed by a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Complutense University (Madrid, Spain) in 1972. During the period 1972-1974 he worked in the fields of molecular beam and reaction dynamics at the Universities of Madison (Wisconsin, USA) and Austin (Texas, USA), and in later years at universities in the UK. He became Associate Professor in Chemical Physics in 1974 and Full Professor in 1983, both at the Completeness University of Madrid. His research interests focus mainly on gas-phase, cluster and surface reaction dynamics, using molecular beam and laser techniques. He was one of the pioneers in measuring threshold energies in chemical reactivity when changing the translational and electronic energy of the reactants, as well as in the measurements of high-resolution spectroscopy in intra-cluster reactions. More recently, his interests have branched out into the application of laser technologies to Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Biology and Food Science. he is the head of the Department of Molecular Beams and Lasers at the Institution Pluridisciplinar (Complutense University, Madrid); for the first 10 years of the institute's existence he also was its first director. He has held visiting appointments at Cambridge University (UK), at the universite de Paris Sud (France) and at the Academia Sinica, Taiwan National University (Taipei, Taiwan).Robert J. Donovan Graduated (BSc Hons) from the University of Wales in 1962. Following a year in industry, with Procter and Gamble appointed a Research Fellow of Gonville and Caius College (Cambridge) in 1966, and in 1970 he moved to the Department of Chemsitry at the University of Edinburgh. In 1979 he was appointed Professor of Physical Chemistry, and in 1986 he was appointed to the Foundation (1713) Chair of Chemistry at Edinburgh. His research interests lie in the fields of gas-phase energy transfer, photochemistry, reaction dynamics, spectroscopy and atmospheric chemistry. He was one of the pioneers of kinetic spectroscopy in the vacuum ultraviolet and has contributed substantially to the use of lasers and synchrotron radiation for the study of chemical and physical processes involving electronically excited states. His work in the field of spectroscopy has involved extensive studies of Rydberg, ionic and charge-transfer states, using optical-optical double resonance (OODR), resonance-enhanced multiphoto ionization (REMPI) and zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy. In addition, he has applied laser techniques to a number of analytical areas, including LIBS, matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization (MALDI) and aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS). He has held visiting appointments at the Universities of Alberta (Canada), Gottingen (Germany), Canterbury (New Zealand), the Australian National University at Canberra, the Tokyo Institute of Technology and the Institute for Molecular Science (Okazaki, Japan).

• PrefaceAbout the authorsChapter 1 Introduction1.1 Basic concepts in laser chemistry1.2 Organization of the bookPart 1 Principles of lasers and laser systemsChapter 2 Atoms and molecules, and their interaction with light waves2.1 Quantum states, energy levels and wave functions2.2 Dipole transitions and transition probabilities2.3 Einstein coefficients and excited-state lifetimes2.4 Spectroscopic line shapes2.5 The polarization of light waves2.6 Basic concepts of coherence2.7 Coherent superposition of quantum states and the concept of wave packetsChapter 3 The basics of lasers3.1 Fundamentals of laser action3.2 Laser resonators3.3 Frequency and spatial properties of laser radiation3.4 Gain in continuous-wave and pulsed lasers3.5 Q-switching and the generation of nanosecond pulses3.6 Mode locking and the generation of picosecond and femtosecond pulses.Chapter 4 Laser systems4.1 Fixed-wavelength gas lasers: helium–neon, rare-gas ion and excimer lasers4.2 Fixed-wavelength solid-state lasers: the Nd:YAG laser4.3 Tuneable dye laser systems4.4 Tuneable Ti:sapphire laser systems4.5 Semiconductor diode lasers4.6 Quantum cascade lasers4.7 Non-linear crystals and frequency-mixing processes4.8 Three-wave mixing processes: doubling, sum and difference frequency generation4.9 Optical parametric oscillationPart 2 Spectroscopic techniques in laser chemistryChapter 5 General concepts of laser spectroscopy5.1 Spectroscopy based on photon detection5.2 Spectroscopy based on charged particle detection5.3 Spectroscopy based on measuring changes of macroscopic physical properties of the medium.Chapter 6 Absorption spectroscopy6.1 Principles of absorption spectroscopy6.2 Observable transitions in atoms and molecules6.3 Practical implementation of absorption spectroscopy6.4 Multipass absorption techniquesChapter 7 Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy7.1 Principles of laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy7.2 Important parameters in laser-induced fluorescence7.3 Practical implementation of laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopyChapter 8 Light scattering methods: Raman spectroscopy and other processes8.1 Light scattering8.2 Principles of Raman spectroscopy8.3 Practical implementation of Raman spectroscopyChapter 9 Ionization spectroscopy9.1 Principles of ionization spectroscopy9.2 Photoion detection9.3 Photoelectron detection9.4 Photoion imagingPart 3 Optics and measurement conceptsChapter 10 Reflection, refraction and diffraction10.1 Selected properties of optical materials and light waves10.2 Reflection and refraction at a plane surface10.3 Light transmission through prisms10.4 Light transmission through lenses and imaging10.5 Imaging using curved mirrors10.6 Superposition, interference and diffraction of light waves10.7 Diffraction by single and multiple apertures10.8 Diffraction gratingsChapter 11 Filters and thin-film coatings11.1 Attenuation of light beams11.1 Beam splitters11.3 Wavelength-selective filters11.4 Polarization filters11.5 Reflection and filtering at optical component interfaces11.6 Thin-film coatingsChapter 12 Optical fibres12.1 Principles of optical fibre transmission12.2 Attenuation in fibre transmission12.3 Mode propagation in fibresChapter 13 Analysis instrumentation and detectors13.1 Spectrometers13.2 Interferometers13.3 Photon detectors exploiting the photoelectric effect13.4 Photodetectors based on band-gap materials13.5 Measuring laser power and pulse energy13.6 Analysis of charged particles for charge, mass and energy13.7 Charged-particle detectionChapter 14 Signal processing and data acquisition14.1 Signals, noise and noise reduction14.2 DC, AC and balanced detection methods14.3 Lock-in detection techniques14.4 Gated integration/boxcar averaging techniques14.5 Event counting14.6 Digital conversion and data acquisitionPart 4 Laser studies of photodissociation, photoionization and unimolecular processesChapter 15 Photodissociation of diatomic molecules15.1 Photofragment kinetic energy15.2 Angular distributions and anisotropic scattering15.3 Predissociation and curve crossing15.4 Femtosecond studies: chemistry in the fast lane15.5 Dissociation and oscillatory continuum emissionChapter 16 Photodissociation of triatomic molecules16.1 Photodissociation of water16.2 Photodissociation of ozone16.3 Laser-induced fluorescence and cavity ring-down studies16.4 Femtosecond studies: transition-state spectroscopyChapter 17 Photodissociation of larger polyatomic molecules: energy landscapes17.1 Rydberg tagging17.2 Photodissociation of ammonia17.3 Selective bond breaking17.4 Molecular elimination and three-body dissociationChapter 18 Multiple and multiphoton excitation, and photoionization18.1 Infrared multiple-photon activation and unimolecular dissociation18.2 Continuum intermediate states and bond stretching18.3 High-resolution zero kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy18.4 Autoionization18.5 Photoion-pair formationChapter 19 Coherent control and the future of ultra-short probing19.1 Coherent control of chemical processes19.2 The future of attosecond probingPart 5 Laser studies of bimolecular reactionsChapter 20 Basic concepts of kinetics and reaction dynamics20.1 Résumé of kinetics20.2 Introduction to reaction dynamics: total and differential reaction cross-section20.3 Connection between dynamics and kinetics20.4 Basic concepts of potential energy surfaces20.5 Calculating potential energy surfacesChapter 21 The molecular beam method: basic concepts and examples of bimolecular reaction studies21.1 Basic concepts21.2 Interpretation of spatial and energy distributions: dynamics of a two-body collision21.3 Interpretation of spatial and energy distributions: products angular and velocity distributions as a route to the reaction mechanism.Chapter 22 Chemical reactions with laser-prepared reagents22.1 Energy selectivity: mode-selective chemistry22.2 Energy selectivity: electronic excitation22.3 Stereodynamical effects with laser-prepared reagents22.4 Vibrationally excited reagents and their effect on stereo-dynamicsChapter 23 Laser probing of chemical reaction products23.1 Where does the energy of a chemical reaction go?23.2 Probing the product state distribution of a chemical reaction\23.3 Crossed-beam techniques and laser spectroscopic detection: towards the state-to-state differential reaction cross-section measurementsPart 6 Laser studies of cluster and surface reactionsChapter 24 Laser studies of complexes: van der Waals and cluster reactions24.1. Experimental set-ups and methodologies24.2. Metal-containing complexes24.3. Non-metal van der Waals complexesChapter 25 Solvation dynamics: elementary reactions in solvent cages25.1. Dissociation of clusters containing I225.2. Dissociation of clusters containing I225.3. Proton-transfer reactionsChapter 26 Laser studies of surface reactions: an introduction26.1. Résumé of metal surface properties and electronic structure26.2. Particle–surface interaction26.3. Surface reaction mechanisms26.4. Experimental methods to investigate laser-induced surface reactionsChapter 27 Laser studies of surface reactions: photochemistry in the adsorbed state27.1. Adsorbate- versus substrate-mediated processes27.2. Examples of photoinduced reactions in the adsorbed state27.3. Femto-chemistry at surfaces: the ultrafast reaction CO/O–[Ru(0001)]Part 7 Selected applicationsChapter 28 Environmental and other analytical applications28.1 Atmospheric gas monitoring using tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy28.2 Closed-path tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy applications28.3 Open-path tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy applications28.4 The lidar technique for remote gas analysis28.5 Lidar in the study of atmospheric chemistry: tropospheric measurements28.6 Lidar in the study of atmospheric chemistry: stratospheric measurements28.7 Laser desorption and ionization: laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization, and aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometryChapter 29 Industrial monitoring and process control29.1 Analysis of internal combustion engines29.2 Laser-spectroscopic analysis of burners and incinerators29.3 Laser-chemical processes at surfaces: nanoscale patterningChapter 30 Laser applications in medicine and biology30.1 Photodynamic therapy30.2 Intra-cell mapping of drug delivery using Raman imaging30.3 Breath diagnostics using laser spectroscopy30.4 From photons to plant defence mechanisms30.5 Application to volatile compounds: on-line detection of plant stress30.6 Laser applications to the study of non-volatile compounds in fruitsReferencesReferences grouped by chapterFurther reading grouped by partWeb pagesAppendixCommon abbreviations and acronymsPhysical constantsUseful conversions and other relationshipsEnergy conversion factorsIndex

An excellent reference book. (Reviews, June 2008)