Raston
Paul was born and raised in Australia, received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Griffith University, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wyoming where he studied tunneling reactions in solid hydrogen (under David T. Anderson). This was followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Alberta (with Wolfgang Jäger) and the University of Georgia (with Gary Douberly), where he investigated finite sized superfluidity and radicals at near zero Kelvin. Paul then returned to his homeland for a Ramsay Fellowship at the University of Adelaide where he focused on the synchrotron-based spectroscopy of floppy molecules. This was cut short after accepting a position at James Madison University where his group built a helium nanodroplet isolation spectrometer. Paul joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2023.
Maameyaa Asiamah and Paul L. Raston, Laser Spectroscopy of Helium Solvated Clusters of Methanol and Methanol-Water in the Symmetric Methyl Stretching Band, J. Phys. Chem. A, 2023, 127, 946–955 (Part of the Special Issue, Early Career and Emerging Researchers in Physical Chemistry: Volume 2)
Hayley Bunn and Paul L. Raston, Characterization of the Coriolis Coupled Far-Infrared Bands of syn-Vinyl Alcohol, J. Phys. Chem. A, 2022, 126, 2569–2577 (Part of a Special Issue Celebrating 10 Years of the ACS PHYS Astrochemistry Subdivision)
Paul L. Raston, Laser spectroscopy of helium solvated molecules: Probing the inertial response, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2021, 23, 25467-25479 (Invited Perspective article)
Research in the Raston Lab is focused on advancing our understanding of atmospheric chemistry, astrochemistry, combustion chemistry, and superfluidity. We use a variety of home-built spectrometers in order to do this, that span the lower end of the electromagnetic spectrum (microwave to infrared). We are currently focusing on two projects. The first involves preparing a variety of exotic chemical intermediates in both the gas phase and in helium nanodroplets. The spectroscopy we plan to perform on them should provide insight into their reactivity, in addition to rest frequencies to help with their identification in various environments (such as the interstellar medium). The second project focuses on investigating the quantum solvation of different types of molecules with either helium or hydrogen. Through the power of high-resolution spectroscopy we hope to uncover new manifestations of microscopic superfluidity in these types of systems. We’re also developing a variety of scientific instrument simulator’s that will provide students with virtual lab experiences when in-person labs are not possible.