New Methods and Perspectives in Molecular Physics

The field of molecular physics has received a new impetus from the development of novel techniques to decelerate and trap neutral molecules, as well as from the application of pulsed infrared radiation from a free electron laser source for the determination of vibrational properties of (bio-) molecules, molecular complexes, and clusters. This report describes some of the techniques and their underlying physics, and projects being pursued in the new Department of Molecular Physics in the Fritz Haber Institute.