Atomic and molecular structure as a research area investigates the spatial arrangement, electronic configuration, and intrinsic quantum properties of atoms and molecules, and how these features determine their spectroscopic, chemical, and physical behavior. It encompasses theoretical and computational methods (e.g., ab initio quantum chemistry, density functional theory, configuration interaction) and experimental techniques (e.g., high-resolution spectroscopy, scattering, synchrotron and XFEL-based probes) to resolve electronic states, bonding patterns, potential energy surfaces, and correlation effects. This field underpins understanding of reactivity, photophysics, materials properties, and the design of novel molecules, clusters, and nanostructures with targeted electronic and structural characteristics.
A research team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has devised a unique method to observe changes in materials at the atomic level. The technique opens new avenues for understanding and developing ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 9, 2024
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For the first time ever, researchers have witnessed—in real time and at the molecular-scale—hydrogen and oxygen atoms merge to form tiny, nano-sized bubbles of water.
Nanomaterials
Sep 30, 2024
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Since the late 1960s, the Laboratoire Aimé Cotton (LAC) in Orsay, France, has made significant progress in the classification of complex atomic spectra. These advances have been driven both by the development of Fourier ...
General Physics
Sep 24, 2024
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9
Scientists use atomic clocks to measure the "second," the smallest standard unit of time, with great precision. These clocks use natural oscillations of electrons in atoms, similar to how pendulums work in old grandfather ...
General Physics
Sep 13, 2024
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164
Researchers from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands have been able to initiate a controlled movement in the very heart of an atom. They caused the atomic nucleus to interact with one of the electrons in the ...
Quantum Physics
Sep 12, 2024
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499
In a study titled "Near-complete chiral selection in rotational quantum states" published in Nature Communications, the Controlled Molecules Group from the Molecular Physics Department of the Fritz Haber Institute has made ...
Quantum Physics
Aug 29, 2024
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117
An entirely new structure of light is helping to measure chirality in molecules more accurately and robustly than ever before, in a major potential step for the pharmaceutical industry.
Optics & Photonics
Aug 23, 2024
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62
Quantum simulation enables scientists to simulate and study complex systems that are challenging or even impossible using classical computers across various fields, including financial modeling, cybersecurity, pharmaceutical ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 19, 2024
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86
The electron shell of atoms acts as an "electromagnetic shield," preventing direct access to the nucleus and its properties. A team in the group of Klaus Blaum, director at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in ...
General Physics
Aug 19, 2024
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185
Adding or removing neutrons from an atomic nucleus leads to changes in the size of the nucleus. This in turn causes tiny changes in the energy levels of the atom's electrons, known as isotope shifts. Scientists can use precision ...
General Physics
Aug 13, 2024
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