The role
A postdoctoral research position in experimental ultrafast spectroscopy is available in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, supported by the EPSRC grant UKRI2573, Quantum Coherence and Correlations in Condensed Phase Photochemical Reaction Dynamics. This is part of a joint EPSRC-NSF collaborative project between Dr Tom Oliver (Bristol, UK) and Prof Stephen Bradforth (University of Southern California, USA).
This study will investigate how important light-driven reactions such as photoinduced ligand-ligand charge-transfer [1] and photoionisation [2]- processes critical to photocatalysis, protein damage and drug design- initially generate charge-transfer products composed of spin-correlated ion-radical pairs. As the chemical reaction initially generates two spatially confined ions, their interactions drive time-dependent spin-exchange, creating entanglement within the ion-radical pair. These spin dynamics strongly influence the final product yields, which are remarkably spin-selective.
To probe these effects, new ultrafast multidimensional experimental techniques [3] will be developed to read out the evolving spin states and their entanglement on timescales far shorter than have hitherto been possible from magnetic resonance experiments. The results will reveal how the quantum mechanical state imprinted by light, determine product distributions- shaping photochemical reaction outcomes and potentially enabling the design of novel, high-value synthetic products.
Further details of the Oliver group can be found at: