Michael C.L. Gerry

Professor

Office: Chemistry E316
Office Phone: (604) 822-2464

FAX: (604) 822-2847
Email: mgerry@chem.ubc.ca

Curriculum Vitae: B.A., British Columbia (1960); M.Sc., British Columbia (C.A. McDowell, 1962); Ph.D., Cambridge (T.M. Sugden, 1965); Postdoctoral, Duke (W.Gordy, 1965-67)

Physical: Microwave spectroscopy of gases; Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy of stable and unstable species; determination of molecular structures; the spectra of molecules of atmospheric and astrophysical interest.

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Research/Teaching Interests

Gas-phase microwave spectroscopy is being used in a variety of studies, especially to identify unstable molecules, free radicals, ions and van der Waals complexes, and to measure their structural parameters.

We have two very sensitive high resolution Fourier transform microwave spectrometers, in which samples are entrained in essentially collision-free rare gas jets. Any reactive species in the jets are thus stabilized long enough that their spectra can be recorded and measured.

The methods used to prepare samples include electric discharges and laser ablation techniques, with the latter being used in most of our recent work. In this method metals vaporized with a pulsed laser are made to react with a second precursor entrained in the noble gas of the jet. As a result spectra of many compounds and complexes not normally thought of as gaseous can be studied in the vapour phase. The technique lends itself particularly to studies of small molecules, such as AgCl, ScBr, LaF, ZrO, AuF and AlNC. Very recently we have discovered through their spectra complexes of noble gases with noble metal halides (e.g. Ar-CuF, Kr-AuCl) which are so strongly bound that they can be considered to have chemical bonds between the noble gas and the metal! These studies are being continued, and also extended to other ligands, notably CO.