About the role

The research activity that this position is connected to, within the Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Positron Physics (AMOPP) group of UCL's Physics and Astronomy Department, is related to experimental studies of cold and ultracold gas-phase ion-molecule reactive collisions within supersonic beams – a leading activity of its kind, both in the UK and worldwide.

Gas-phase ion-molecule reactions are fascinating because they can take place even in the limit of absolute zero temperature. They govern the chemistry of the interstellar medium but also present an ideal platform to exert quantum control in laboratory studies. The aim of this project is to study at low collision energies the reactions between the He+ ion and two polar molecules, in supersonic beams produced in a high-vacuum apparatus.

Ion-molecule reaction rate coefficients are strongly dependent on the molecular rotational quantum state at low collision energies. The proj...