Visualization of molecular photoprocesses with atomic resolution

Title: Visualization of molecular photoprocesses with atomic resolution

Speaker: Dr Sofia Canola, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU), Czech Republic

Abstract: Recent experimental advancements exploit the interaction between light and molecules in the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), using light either as a reactant, to drive chemical reactions on a surface and build molecular architectures (on-surface photoreactions), or as a probe, to characterize molecules through optical spectroscopy (STM luminescence and related techniques). Experiments in STM are conducted in controlled conditions (ultra-high vacuum, low temperature) and allow to access microscopic molecular information, such as molecular structure and electronic properties with sub molecular resolution. In this presentation, I will present recent work in the field, focusing on how the combination of experiments with accurate quantum-chemical calculations and modelling allow us to access unique information and to guide the design of experiments. I will show how the imaging capability of STM helps us follow the mechanism of molecular photoreactions, by visualizing elusive intermediates and tracking precursor structural changes. I will also show how STM luminescence spectroscopy can be employed to study single molecules and their aggregates, giving access to information beyond conventional spectroscopy, such as dark excited states, and spatial maps of molecular excitons with atomic resolution.

Biography: Sofia Canola is currently a junior researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU) in Prague (Czech Republic). She got a PhD in chemistry at the University of Bologna (Italy) in 2017, working on the computational simulation of charge transfer processes and spectroscopy of organic molecules. After three years postdoc in the same university working on the spectroscopy of diradicals and electrochemical reactivity, since 2020 she works at FZU Prague. Her present research interest is the computational modelling of molecular photochemistry and optical processes, in solution and on surface.