Our overarching goal is to solve the crystallization problem in crystallography. In so doing, we not only develop experimental technologies but also explore frontiers of physical chemistry. More specifically, we want to build a molecular goniometer by taking advantage of the ultracold temperature of superfluid helium droplets (~0.4 K) and by relying on the anisotropic polarizabilities of most macromolecules. The molecular goniometer should enable accumulation of diffraction images from millions of molecules all oriented in the same direction, and should also enable recording of images from different orientations. Multiple projections of the same diffractive object are sufficient for structure determination.

Research Interests
Materials