DR. SUNIL KUMAR

Radio frequency ion traps are versatile devices in which sinusoidal voltages of frequencies in Mega Hertz range (typically in combination with static voltages) are employed to confine atomic/molecular ions of interest for a sufficiently long time for examining their physical or chemical properties. These devices are routinely used to probe a wide range of physical phenomena involving the interaction of photons with ions and gas-phase reactions of ions with various neutral species. Radio frequency devices can be employed to perform high-resolution spectroscopy of molecular ions, to measure the absolute photo-detachment/ photo-dissociation cross-sections of molecular ions and to measure the absolute rate coefficients of the reactions with various molecular species, in addition to several other experiments such as chemical probing, fluorescence spectroscopy, experiments addressing fundamental physics, cluster physics, etc. In this presentation, the speaker will discuss how radio frequency ion traps can be used to examine the processes relevant to the laboratory astrophysics.