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Paul Houston Current Research Photodissociation Dynamics Betaofnu Bimolecular Reactions Imaging Biofilms Completed Projects Ozone OLEDs Vector Correlations HCO Energy Transfer at Solid Surfaces E-to-V ET H abstraction Isotope Separation Complete List of Publications

Ozone Photodissociation: Ozone is an important constituent of the Earth's atmosphere. We have studied its photodissociation in the ultraviolet Hartley Band using product imaging. A new channel producing highly vibrationally excited O2 has been discovered. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation and by the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth administered by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan. Publications Organic Light Emitting Devices: In collaboration with Professors H. Abruņa and G. G. Malliaras we have investigated the optical and electrical properties of novel dendrimer-based organic light emitting devices. This work was supported by the Cornell Center for Materials Research. Publications Vector Correlations:  Our group was one of the first to recognize that correlations between vector quantites, such as between the recoil velocity and the rotational vector of a product, could be measured from Doppler profiles and could provide important information on dissociation dynamics. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation. Publications The Photodissociation of HCO: HCO is an important radical in atmospheric chemistry and combustion. We have studied its dissociation to give H + CO, particularly through long-lived resonances accessed by stimulated emission pumping. The excellent agreement between theory and experiment confirm how well this system is understood. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation. Publications Energy Transfer at Solid Surfaces: In collaborative projects, we have studied a variety of gas-surface interactions, including rotational, vibrational, and electronic energy transfer at solid surfaces. This work was supported by the Cornell Center for Materials Research. Publications Electronic-to-Vibrational Energy Transfer: We studied electronic-to-vibrational energy transfer, mostly from spin-orbit excited halogen atoms, for several years. In addition to increasing our understanding of fundamental energy transfer processes, this project led to an understanding of the mechanism of the continuous wave chemical oxygen-iodine laser. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Publications Hydrogen Atom Transfer Reactions: H atom abstraction by fluorine atoms is a reaction important in chemical lasers and for comparison to high-level theory. We studied this process as a function of temperature for several important reactions during the 1970s. Our paper concerning the barrier for the F + H2 reaction is still quoted, and the non-Arrhenius tempertature dependence of other F + HX reactions may have importance to the current understanding of non-adiabatic effects. This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and by the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. Publications Isotope Separation: The spectral selectivity of excitation with lasers allows isotopes to be separated provided that the absorbed light can be used to effect a chemical transformation and provided that the spectral selectivity can be maintained. We studied carbon isotope separation using the dissociation of formaldehyde and the dissociation of CF3I as the chemical separation process. The work at Cornell in this area was supported by the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. Publications