Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Faculty
group
Authors' Class Standing
Conner Penson, Junior
Lead Presenter's Name
Conner Penson
Faculty Mentor Name
Giorgio Turri
Abstract
The goal of this experiment was to measure coincident 2-electron emissions from water molecules with unequal energies to analyze the direct emission processes of H20. The ELETTRA Synchrotron was utilized for its highly tunable photon selection and its coincidence measurement capabilities. A photon flux of specific energy was fired into a thin stream of water vapor in near-perfect vacuum and electron detectors at known angles in the plane of emission were scanned through different energy and emission angles. The detectors only recorded a measurement if it was in coincidence with the measurement of another detector to ensure that all measurements, were a cause of photo-double ionization. The motivation of this experiment was a lack of documentation in the field of photon double ionization of water with unequal energy sharing due to the complexity of the H20 molecule. The data gathered will, ultimately, lead to a better understanding of the structure of the water molecule, of the photo-double ionization dynamics, which in turn could have profound biology and space physics applications, for example in the field of radiation damage.
Did this research project receive funding support from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Yes, Spark Grant
Photo-Double Ionization of Water
The goal of this experiment was to measure coincident 2-electron emissions from water molecules with unequal energies to analyze the direct emission processes of H20. The ELETTRA Synchrotron was utilized for its highly tunable photon selection and its coincidence measurement capabilities. A photon flux of specific energy was fired into a thin stream of water vapor in near-perfect vacuum and electron detectors at known angles in the plane of emission were scanned through different energy and emission angles. The detectors only recorded a measurement if it was in coincidence with the measurement of another detector to ensure that all measurements, were a cause of photo-double ionization. The motivation of this experiment was a lack of documentation in the field of photon double ionization of water with unequal energy sharing due to the complexity of the H20 molecule. The data gathered will, ultimately, lead to a better understanding of the structure of the water molecule, of the photo-double ionization dynamics, which in turn could have profound biology and space physics applications, for example in the field of radiation damage.