Post-doc non-adiabatic dynamics of photochemistry and attochemistryin at the University of Nantes, France
This Post-Doc is part of the ERC project ATTOP which started in October 2022. ATTOP is a theoretical chemistry project which proposes to bring the very recent technological progress in attosecond science to the field of photochemistry. The objective of this post-doc is to understand the photochemical and photophysical processes of organic/inorganic molecules using the tools of theoretical chemistry and to work on a proof-of-concept of attochemistry to effectively control the photoreactivity of polyatomic molecules. The post-doc fellow will simulate the non-adiabatic dynamics after photoexcitation by populating either a pure adiabatic electronic state (as in traditional photochemistry) or a coherent superposition of several electronic states (attochemistry). To this end, fully quantum non-adiabatic molecular dynamics methods (such as DD-vMCG, MCTDH, AIMS) will be used and their results will be compared. For attochemistry, an exact description of electronic coherence is expected to be crucial in the description of a chemical reaction induced by an electronic wavepacket. This post-doctoral work can imply both methodological developments and applications.
The duration will be 24 months. The candidate should have obtained his/her PhD in theoretical chemistry or physics. A strong background in electronic structure and non-adiabatic dynamics methods is a highly desirable asset. Programming skills are greatly appreciated. The candidate must be motivated, show initiative and be able to work both independently and in a group. Interested candidates can contact Morgane Vacher (morgane.vacher@univ-nantes.fr), also for informal questions before applying.