Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith-Newen

Prof Havenith's research group is working on two main topics: terahertz spectroscopy and high-resolution infrared spectroscopy.

In the liquid phase, water molecules are connected to each other via hydrogen bonds. The fluctuations in the water network occur on the sub-ps and ps time scales. THz absorption measurements (1 THz = 1012 Hz = 1 ps-1) ‘see’ these dynamic reorientations of the dipole moments and thus the changes in the collective movements of the water network caused by solutes.

In infrared spectroscopy, molecules are embedded in ultracold superfluid helium nanodroplets at 0.37 K to study their structure and dynamics. Microsolvation and microaggregation of molecular clusters are investigated using high-resolution infrared spectroscopy.