Summer 2012

PSI Newsletter

Inside this issue: Frogs and Physics

1 Frogs and Physics Dr Mark Dickinson and Andrew Gray, Curator of 1 Chemical Society review Herpetology at the Manchester Museum have been ex- accepted ploring the world of frogs with a class of Year 12 Physics students at the Manchester Museum. 2 A Message from the Director The day started with an introduction into the use of col- 3 Photon 12 our in the animal kingdom. The students were also intro- A student meets Prince 3 Branchpoint expansion in a fully duced to a “glass frog” (where you can see its internal Charming (an extremely rare complementary three-way organs) and a “splendid tree frog”, one of only about a splendid tree frog) DNA junction hundred left in the world.

3 Three dimensional optical im- Andrew explained how frogs were dying out in the rain forests of Central and South aging of actinide ions using two America as a result of a fungus. His research, which combines field studies with captive photon spectroscopy observations, focuses mainly on investigating the biology of the rare treefrog species. All the studies conducted are completely non-invasive and are aimed at gaining a fuller un- Chemical engineering of mo- 4 derstanding of the species concerned, so that the knowledge can be used to help con- lecular qubits - a joint publica- tion between MIB and PSI serve them. Physicist Dr Mark Dickinson from the Photon Science Institute then explained the phys- 4 Louise Natrajan visits the INE ics behind the research, including the use of visible and infrared techniques to analyse the 5 Detecting free radicals in the frog’s skin, and a master class in infrared techniques. Students were allowed to use the atmosphere infrared imaging apparatus to look at near and far infrared imaging and spectroscopy.

6 Report on the EPR conference and David Collisons birthday lectures

8 Flash Bang - Andrew Thomas teaches school children about the science of explosions

This newsletter consists of a combination of articles, high- lighting both recent grant successes and those of a personal nature. Two treefrogs – spot the one only camouflaged in the visible part of the spectrum

Please send any items you have either for The Photon Chemical Society Review accepted Science Institute website or Andrew Thomas and Karen Syres have co-written a review entitled “Adsorption of or- the next newsletter to [email protected] ganic molecules on rutile TiO2 and anatase TiO2 single crystal surfaces” which has been accepted for publication by Chemical Society Reviews. Page 2 PSI Newsletter Summer 2012

A Message from the Director

The major change within the PSI since Christmas has been projects we have decided upon are: the arrival of many new colleagues. These include: Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering spectroscopy (CARS): Cassy Kenny, who has replaced Joan as the Director’s PA. this has arisen from discussions with colleagues at MIB (chiefly Hopefully everyone has now met Cassy and introduced Roy Goodacre). It could probably become a focus for developing themselves. Cassy appears to be coping with the oddities further advanced Raman techniques. of the Director and the PSI staff remarkably well. The new Sum Frequency Generation spectroscopy (SFG): this is already layout for the newsletter has been Cassy’s initiative. an area where we have invested a small amount of money, and it Steve Mottley and Siraj Mohammed have arrived from is leading to a good deal of external interest and funding. We Chemistry to re-establish an electronics workshop in the already have funds from National Nuclear Laboratories, BP and PSI. Thanks to everyone who has helped Steve and Siraj EPSRC through collaboration with Imperial and Durham. An- settle in. Hopefully we will have a further appointment in drew Thomas and Rob Lindsay, who have led the development electronics shortly. of the project, have further ideas and we have interest from other groups at MIB and Chemistry in studying other systems. Alistair Fielding has arrived from the University of Göttin- gen to take up a position as an Application Scientist/Senior EPR spectroscopy of photo-excited states: this is a project that Lecturer – a post partly funded by Bruker. Alistair’s remit comes from moving the national EPR facility into the PSI. There is to design new experiments to use the beautiful new has been previous work in this area, but the range of spectrome- spectrometers within the ground floor laboratory. ters we have in the PSI combined with the laser facilities make this an opportunity to perform experiments other groups are Some of these changes have required a re-organisation of not equipped to perform. office space. We have divided up the former post-room to create two new offices and we are about to divide Kathy’s Finally, we’ll develop the optical microscopy further. Already office into two to create still further space. I think it is a Mark Dickinson and Tom Waigh, working closely with Vicki mark of the success we are achieving that we have to re- Allan, have developed a Photoactivated Localisation Microscopy organise to accommodate new staff. As the PSI grows, (PALM) which allows optical microscopy well beyond the diffrac- regular re-organisation and re-allocation of space is likely. tion limit. We will continue in this area, building strongly links to Life Science, but also looking for other collaborators who can A new experimental officer post in laser spectroscopy has use this very high resolution optical microscopy. been advertised and I hope we can fill this post before the summer. This will strengthen the research support team in These projects will occupy most of the time of the PSI research PSI and allow Med and Alasdair to help deliver an ever team over the remainder of 2012. Other funded projects will improving service to academics. Part of the reason I could also be supported as a high priority. This means that a low prior- persuade the Dean to release this post was because we ity will be given to research projects that are not externally have obtained external funds to develop the sum fre- funded. This is simple fairness – our salaries and those of all sup- quency generation spectroscopy experiment in the ground port staff depend on earning research funds, so those that earn floor laboratory. As we attempt to grow the PSI further, such funds should receive a better service. This means, in turn, external funding for the research support team is essen- that Med and Alisdair have been instructed not to support tial. groups which have no external funding unless the work is ap- proved directly by me. This is not their decision, it is mine. If you We are now planning the growth within the next phase. have a problem with this position, please speak to me directly. I’ve proposed we pursue four new projects. These have been chosen based on a balance of factors, which include: projects that have already obtained significant external funding and published significant work; projects that have the potential to obtain significant external funding and Director of the PSI contribute world-leading science; projects that build links to other sections of the university and beyond. The four Page 3 PSI Newsletter Summer 2012

PHOTON 12 Durham University, 3-6 September 2012.

Members of the PSI are taking a leading role in the organization of PHOTON 12 at Durham University this year. Dave Binks, Mark Dickinson, Krikor Ozanyan and Patricia Scully are all on the Programme Committee and will be chairing sessions at the conference.

PHOTON 12 is the IOP’s premier event in Optics and Photonics and is the largest optics conference in the UK. The event is the main forum for the IOP Optics and Photonics Division and the IOP Quantum Electronics and Photonics Group. For more information see the conference website at www.photon.org.uk.

Branchpoint Expansion in a Fully Complementary Three-Way DNA Junction

An article from Steven Magennis, Tara Sabir and Anita Toulmin "Branchpoint Expansion in a Fully Complementary Three-Way DNA Junction", has featured on the front cover of JACS.

The research, which was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Gunnar Schröder (Forschungszentrum Jülich), Dr. Anita Jones (University of Edinburgh) and Prof. Peter McGlynn (University of Aberdeen), describes the use of single-molecule FRET, time -resolved spectroscopy, and molecular modeling to determine the global structure of a fully complementary three-way DNA junction. Three-way junctions are key biological intermediates and are used as building blocks for nanoscience applica- tions. The study revealed local unpairing at the branchpoint to form a nanoscale cavity, despite the full Watson-Crick com- plementarity of the DNA junction. The structure accounts for earlier observations of the structure and flexibility of three- way junctions.

DOI: 10.1021/ja211802z

Three Dimensional Optical Imaging of Actinide Ions using Two Photon Spectroscopy

Congratulations to Louise Natrajan who has been awarded an EPSRC grant in the new directions for EPSRC research lead- ers scheme, for the value of £311,505.

The title of her work is: “Three Dimensional Optical Imaging of Actinide Ions using Two Photon Spectroscopy”, and this will provide a 2 year extension to her EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship. Page 4 PSI Newsletter Summer 2012

Chemical engineering of molecular qubits – a joint publication between MIB and PSI

C. J. Wedge, R. E. George, G. A. Timco, F. Tuna, S. Rigby, E. J. L. McInnes, R. E. P. Winpenny, S. J. Blundell and A. Ardavan, “Chemical engineering of molecular qubits”, Phys. Rev. Lett., 2012, 108, 107204.

DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.107204

The arrival of the EPR facility within PSI has changed the face of the ground floor laboratory. It is also already changing our publication rate, with more papers appearing with the PSI address. One of the earliest is a joint paper between PSI and the MIB. The paper, which has just appeared in Physical Review Letters, involves use of pulsed EPR spectroscopy to measure phase memory times in a series of molecules designed to be used as qubits in quantum information processing. The molecules were made in the School of Chemistry at Manchester by Grigore Timco, and the measurements described were performed in Oxford with a team led by Arzhang Ardavan, and at MIB by Floriana Tuna working with Steve Rigby. The new equipment that has arrived in PSI will allow us, in the future, to perform the experiments here.

The paper is a follow-up to a previous article (Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98, 057201) which showed that the phase memory time in molecular magnets was suffi- ciently long to allow manipulation of spins to perform computation. The first paper has been cited almost one hundred and sixty times in five years. The new paper shows how, by choice of more rigid organic groups, we can extend the phase memory time to around 15 microseconds. Figure: two pulse electron spin echo decay for the molecule shown in deuterated toluene at 1.5 K.

Louise Natrajan visits the Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (INE) in Germany

Louise Natrajan and Sean Woodall, a PhD student, have recently visited the INE, at Karlsruhe Actinide NMR Centre of Excellence in Germany. They spent six weeks studying Americium and Curium com- pounds with NMR imaging and photophysics, jointly funded by an EPSRC Windfall grant and the FP7-EURACT NMR programme. You can learn more about the programme at: www.euract-nmr.eu/ Page 5 PSI Newsletter Summer 2012

Detecting free radicals in the atmosphere

Dr Carl Percival, of the School of Earth, Atmospheric and En- nected to the four corners of the resistive anode. By measur- vironmental Sciences at Manchester University and John Dyke ing the charge division between the four charge-sensing de- of Southampton University, a visiting at Manchester vices, the position where the electrons strike the exit plane of University, have a joint NERC research grant to study atmos- the spectrometer can be determined. This information is then pherically important reactive intermediates, in the gas-phase processed to produce the final photoelectron spectrum. An using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES). On the purpose-built additional advantage of the redesigned spectrometer is that all spectrometer used, VUV radiation ionizes a reactive interme- the photoelectrons will be analysed at the same value of ki- diate and measures the ejected photoelectrons. By changing netic energy within the hemispherical deflector that disperses the distance between the source of the intermediates and the them according to their energy. This will ensure that the en- ionization region of the spectrometer, the reaction pathways ergy resolution of the spectrum is uniform across its whole that these intermediates take can be followed, and reaction range. Initial experiments will study the simplest Criegee inter- branching ratios and rate coefficients can be measured. mediate CH2O2 , which can be produced by the consecutive reactions At present the photoelectron spectrometer has a narrow exit slit, with a single electron detector: a channel electron multi- F CH I CH I +IF plier. This means that only one, single photoelectron energy is 2 2 2 detected at a time. The complete spectrum is obtained by scanning the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. Michele CH2I O2 CH2O2 I Siggel-King (Cockcroft Institute) and George King from the  PSI have been working with Carl, John and Dr Asan Bacak, This Creigee intermediate is isoelectronic with ozone and like also from the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental ozone plays a very important role in atmospheric chemistry. Sciences, in the conversion of the spectrometer into a multi-  The longer term goal is to use photoelectron spectroscopy to detection device. This device can detect simultaneously all of study other Criegee intermediates (e.g. CH CHOO and (CH ) the photoelectrons that are dispersed across the focal plane of 3 3 COO) and to use photoelectron spectroscopy as a measure- the spectrometer, enabling the complete photoelectron spec- 2 ment method for Criegee intermediates in direct kinetics trum to be obtained in a single shot. This reduces data collec- studies of their atmospherically important reactions. tion times by over an order of magnitude, which is especially important for such dilute target systems as reactive intermedi- ates, which will include free radicals. In this conversion of the spectrometer, the single channel multiplier is being replaced by a position sensitive detector. This consists of a pair of mul- tichannel detection plates, to multiply the electron current by ~ 107, and a resistive anode. Charge sensing devices are con-

International Scientific Advisory Board 2012 - Poster Session

The ISAB for 2012 will be taking place on Thursday 6th-Friday 7th September. There will be a poster session in the foyer of the Alan Turing building on Thursday afternoon and evening with wine and nibbles available. Please can PSI staff and students be aware that posters will be needed for this session and all are welcome to attend. Page 6 PSI Newsletter Summer 2012

Report on the EPR conference and David Collison’s birthday lectures

By David Collison

The 45th Annual International Meeting of the ESR Spectros- The scientific highlight of the meeting was the 27th Bruker copy Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry (http://esr- Prize Lecture given by Professor Kev Salikhov (Pic 3) from the group.org) was hosted in Manchester at Chancellors Confer- Zavoisky Physical‐Technical Institute of the Russian Academy ence Centre during the amazingly summery week of 25th – 29th of Sciences, Kazan, Tatarstan, under the title Quantum comput- March 2012. Almost 100 delegates attended, and appreciated ing on electron spins using the pulse EPR spectroscopy methodol- the opportunity to have morning and afternoon tea and coffee ogy, following an introductory salutation by Professor Robert on the terrace (Pic 1) overlooking the deep green lawn and Bittl (Berlin). Indeed quantum computing featured heavily in magnolia trees in full bloom. The local organisation was led by the conference, which was got off to a splendid start with Eric McInnes and David Collison, and with magnificent support Richard Winpenny’s opening keynote lecture, EPR Studies of from Prof Richard Winpenny, Dr Kathy England, Cassandra Rings and Dimers of Rings and on the final morning Professor Kenny, Sarah Evans and Gill Smith. (Pic 2) Takeji Takui’s (Osaka) wide-ranging keynote lecture, New aspects of nitroxides and open‐shell graphene fragments chemistry: From quantum computers to energy conversion elements. Tech- nique development was represented in the keynote lecture by Walter Kockenberger (Nottingham), with From electron‐ nuclear spin pairs to the electron spin interaction with the bulk nuclei: A closer look at dynamic nuclear polarization, and the Wednesday of the conference was devoted to more biological topics and began with a keynote lecture from Heinz‐Juergen Steinhoff (Osnabrueck), entitled Structure and Conformational Dynamics of Nucleic Acids and Membrane Protein Complexes Studied by Site‐Directed Spin Labeling.

The health of the discipline of ESR Spectroscopy was reflected Picture 1 - Delegates enjoy the sun at Chancellors not only in the large number of young scientists, over a third of the delegates were PhD or postdoctoral scientists, but also by the high quality of the Jeol Student Prize Talks; this year five speakers were selected rather than the usual three. And from an outstanding set of talks there was a very worthy win- ner in Alice Bowen (Oxford) with Utilizing the TWT linear re- gion: Double Electron‐Electron Resonance (DEER) with multiple excitation pulses and dead‐time free three‐pulse DEER.

On the free afternoon, over twenty of the delegates elected to visit the EPSRC EPR Spectroscopy Facility & Service in the Photon Science Institute (www.epr.chemistry.manchester. ac.uk), and were given a guided tour by Floriana Tuna, Stephen Sproules and Daniel Sells. The conference dinner

Picture 2 - Group photo by Art Heiss of Bruker was held in the imposing setting of the dining room of Wool- Page 7 PSI Newsletter Summer 2012

Report on the EPR conference and David Collison’s birthday lectures, cont.

Picture 3 - left to right, Peter Hoefer (head of Bruker EPR), Picture 4 - Delegates at the conference dinner Kev Salikhov (Bruker Lecturer), Robert Bittl (Berlin), Mark Newton (Chair of RSC ESR Spectroscopy Group) pervisors, Professor Dave Garner FRS, who recalled his own student’s career. The opening keynote lecture was given by ton Hall (Pic 4), where the Chair of the ESR Spectroscopy Professor Annie Powell from Karlsruhe speaking about Su- Group (Mark Newton, Warwick) oversaw the presentation of pramolecular approaches in the quest for improved molecular the Student Prize Talk to Alice Bowen (Pic 5), by Peter Mead- magnets, followed by Dr Andrew Gaunt (Los Alamos), Dr ows of Jeol (UK). Runners-up prizes for the posters came in Leigh Jones (University of Galway), Dr Jon McMaster the form of recently published textbooks on EPR, authored by (University of Nottingham), Dr Mark Murrie (University of Sushi Misra (published by Wiley), the Eatons (published by Glasgow) on a range of topics in bioinorganic, actinide, coor- Springer), the late Phil Rieger, and the co-authored work by dination and materials chemistry. Richard Winpenny closed Klaus Moebius and Anton Savitsky (both published by RSC the event with some well chosen and very kind words, and Publishing). The 46th Annual Meeting will be held at The Uni- DC gave his thanks for a truly memorable and very touching versity of Warwick during 7th – 11th April 2013. occasion. Indeed a number of other academics who had taught DC and then welcomed him as a colleague in Manches-

ter were also there: Frank Mabbs, David Machin, Alan On the afternoon of the final day of the Thompson. There followed a reception conference the EPR theme moved to organized by Cassy Kenny and Kathy the Chemistry Building at the University, England for all attendees and then there where a symposium entitled “1952 Was was a splendid dinner for speakers and A Very Good Year: A celebration of guests, who included Professor Takui, at Copper Acetate and David Collison.” the Yang Sing restaurant. Both Professor th was held to celebrate DC’s 60 birthday Takui and Bernard Goodman (in an email from earlier in March. Several of the from China) explained that “we start attendees at the conference kindly came counting again at 60, so in Asian eyes you along to this event before heading are just starting your 2nd life”. Being re- home. The speakers were drawn from born sounds good! those who had suffered David’s supervi- sion during their PhD studies and yet had gone on to successful academic and research careers. The symposium was Picture 5 - Alice Bowen receiving the chaired by one of David’s own PhD su- Jeol prize The Photon Science Institute The Photon Science Institute provides an University of Manchester innovative and interdisciplinary environment for research into and the application of photon science Alan Turing building - the understanding of how light interacts with Oxford Road matter. The Institute fosters collaborations across Manchester the physical, engineering, material, medical and M13 9PL biological sciences to produce high-quality research and knowledge transfer. www.psi.manchester.ac.uk

Flash Bang – Andrew Thomas teaches school children about the science of explosions

Andrew Thomas has presented a flash bang lecture entitled “Physics and Chemistry: More Magic than Harry Potter” to around 120 sixth formers at the Regional Science Centre Old- ham as part of their National Science and Engineering Week.

The RSCO works in partnership with schools and universities to develop science skills by creating and maintaining interest in science education from an early age.

More info and picures are available at: http://www.regionalsciencecentreoldham.ac.uk/news/ science_week.html

And finally…

Congratulations to Kevin McManus who got married to Barbara on Saturday 19th May! The PSI staff wish you all the best for a happy future!