Research 

Research 

Microresonator Enabled Single- Molecule Spectroscopy 

An image of the microtoroid resonators the group uses to perform some of our single-particle spectroscopy experiments.

Research

Abstract 

The coupling between ambient ionization sources, developed for mass spectrometric analysis of biomolecules, and cryogenic ion processing, originally designed to study interstellar chemistry, creates a new and general way to capture transient chemical species and elucidate their structures with optical spectroscopies.  Advances in non-linear optics over the past decade allow single-investigator, table top lasers to access radiation from 550 cm-1 in the infrared to the vacuum ultraviolet.

Biography

Dr. Vlcek received his PhD in 2016 jointly from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) and University of Bayreuth (Germany), where he studied in chemistry and physics departments. His PhD was sponsored by Minerva Fellowship of the Max Planck society. From 2016 till 2018, Dr. Vlcek continued as a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He joined the faculty at UCSB in 2018.

Research Overview

Our research focuses on the critical role that surface electron dynamics and interfacial charge transfer have on the selectivity and efficiency of catalytic energy conversion processes. Toward this goal my group has developed femtosecond soft x-ray reflection-absorption spectroscopy as a surface sensitive probe of ultrafast electron dynamics. We also study the closely related chemical reaction kinetics on catalytic surfaces. Research accomplishments and goals in three key areas related to this program are described below.

Research Interests

Computational and theoretical chemistry: Simulation of molecular spectra, optical activity, molecular vibrations, NMR, electron paramagnetism, organic molecules, metal complexes, heavy elements, organometallic materials, computer programming

-Sea spray droplets are often smaller than the period at the end of this sentence, yet they play an enormous role in our atmosphere by reflecting light and acting as tiny chemical reactors.  These droplets vary dramatically in chemical composition, from a rich biological and organic soup to just salt water.  As a member of the Center for Aerosol Impacts of Chemistry of the Environment, I will describe our efforts to understand two of the most impactful aerosol-mediated reactions: the hydrolysis and chlorination of a nitrogen oxide, N2O5, into HNO3 and ClNO2.  N2O5 forms only at night, but i

Abstract