Professor Ernst's research is concerned with the experimental investigation of molecules and clusters by using a variety of spectroscopic techniques. The purpose is to acquire information about the bonding character, electronic and geometrical structure, and molecular interactions of gas phase species. More to its fundamental importance, this information is needed for a profound understanding and theoretical modeling of chemical reactions. Metal molecules and clusters play an important role in catalytic reactions. Metallic nanostructures exhibit physical and chemical properties that may depend on their size.
Spectroscopy helps to explain basic mechanisms and tailor materials for different applications.
The investigations in Professor Ernst's lab are carried out in supersonic beam experiments. Part of the studies focus on alkali metal systems. Here, the changes of the electronic and geometrical structure with cluster size are of major interest. The coupling of electronic and nuclear motion in the cluster, a violation of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, may lead to structural deformation. The figure above shows how three sodium atoms arrange themselves in the planar structure of a triangle.