UV induced processes in biomolecules, hydrated clusters and stark deflected beams

The nanoscale processes by which UV irradiation initiates damage in biological material have not yet been fully elucidated. This represents a barrier to innovations in radiotherapy and also limits our understanding of the molecular origins of life. Experiments on gas-phase biological building blocks can reveal detailed information via comparisons with high-level calculations, while parallel studies of biomolecular clusters offer a route to assess the effects of condensed biological environments. In forthcoming optics talk in Bar Ilan University, I will mainly focus on the stabilities and relaxation pathways of isolated and clustered nucleobases in neutral electronic excited states and ionic states. Furthermore, I will report a new laser thermal desorption facility and also reports advances in applying Stark deflection to narrow the range of molecular and cluster configurations in continuous supersonic beams.