Zhu Boxing

• University of Science and Technology of China

An electrospray ion source has been coupled to a cryogenic electrostatic ion-beam storage ring to enable experimental studies of the fundamental properties of biomolecular ions and their reactions in the gas phase on longer timescales than with previous instruments. Using this equipment, we have measured the vibrational radiative cooling rate of th...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have widely been conjectured to be ubiquitous in space, as supported by the recent discovery of two isomers of cyanonaphthalene, indene, and 2-cyanoindene in the Taurus molecular cloud-1 using radioastronomy. Here, the photoionization dynamics of 1-cyanonaphthalene (1-CNN) are investigated using synchrotron radiatio...

Several small Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been identified recently in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1) using radio telescope observations. Reproducing the observed abundances of these molecules has been a challenge for astrochemical models. Rapid radiative cooling of PAHs by Recurrent Fluorescence (RF), the emission of optical ph...

Naphthalene and azulene are isomeric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and are topical in the context of astrochemistry due to the recent discovery of substituted naphthalenes in the Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 (TMC-1). Here, the thermal-and photo-induced isomerization, dissociation, and radiative cooling dynamics of energized (vibrationally hot...

After decades of searching, astronomers have recently identified specific Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in space. Remarkably, the observed abundance of cyanonaphthalene (CNN, C10H7CN) in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1) is six orders of magnitude higher than expected from astrophysical modeling. Here, we report unimolecular dissociation...

The time-dependent photodetachment action spectra of the linear hydrocarbon anions C 4 H ⁻ and C 6 H ⁻ are investigated using the cryogenic electrostatic ion storage ring DESIREE. Radiative cooling characteristics of the ions on the millisecond to second timescale are probed by monitoring changes in the spectra as the ions cool by spontaneous infra...

After decades of speculation and searching, astronomers have recently identified specific Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in space. Remarkably, the observed abundance of cyanonaphthalene (CNN, C10H7CN) in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1) is six orders of magnitude higher than expected from astrophysical modeling. Here, we report absolute...

The unimolecular dissociation and infrared radiative cooling rates of cationic 1-hydroxypyrene (OHPyr$^+$, \ce{C16H10O+}) and 1-bromopyrene (BrPyr$^+$, \ce{C16H9Br+}) are measured using a cryogenic electrostatic \rev{ion beam} storage ring. A novel numerical approach is developed to analyze the time dependence of the dissociation rate and to determ...

Small silicon-carbon clusters are important gas-phase constituents of stellar atmospheres, and are thought to play a role as potential seeds of the interstellar dusts formed in the envelopes of evolved carbon stars. Here we present the high-resolution optical spectra of the linear SiC 2 Si molecule ( l -Si 2 C 2 ) studied via laboratory experiments...

Rotationally resolved spectra of the H³Σu⁻ - X³Σg⁻ electronic transition bands of Si2 have been experimentally studied using laser induced fluorescence in the 380 - 520 nm range. Si2 molecules are produced in a supersonically expanding planar plasma by discharging a silane/argon gas mixture. In total 44 bands belonging to the H³Σu⁻ - X³Σg⁻ electron...

We present a high resolution spectroscopic study on the B¹A′ – X¹A′ 00⁰ electronic origin band of CuSH near 434 nm. The CuSH molecules are produced by a corona discharge of a H2S/Ar gas mixture with copper needle electrodes in a supersonic jet expansion. The high-resolution spectrum of the B¹A′ – X¹A′ 00⁰ band of jet-cooled CuSH are recorded by las...

We present a pulsed single longitudinal mode optical parametric oscillator that was recently constructed for sub-Doppler spectroscopic studies of transient species in a supersonic slit jet expansion environment. The system consists of a Littman-type grazing-incidence-grating resonator and a KTP crystal and is pumped at 532 nm. By spatially filterin...

The D2Σ+−X2Σ+ electronic absorptionspectrum of the astrophysically relevant yttrium oxide (YO) molecule has been recorded for the first time in the 400–440 nm region using laser induced fluorescence. YO molecules are produced by corona discharge of oxygen between the tips of two yttrium needles in a supersonic jet expansion. An unambiguous spectros...