Niranjan Shivaram

Research in my group is focused on using coherent extreme-ultraviolet and soft x-ray light generated by the process of high harmonic generation (HHG) to study electron dynamics in atoms, molecules and materials on femtosecond to attosecond time scales. We use the HHG source in combination with wavelength tunable laser pulses from an optical parametric amplifier to obtain time-resolved information using multiple probing schemes. Current focus is on studying ultrafast dynamics near conical intersections in molecules using a new approach based on Optical Kerr-effect Spectroscopy. This will be complemented by photo-electron spectroscopy experiments using a velocity-map imaging spectrometer. In addition to this, we are interested in using X-ray Free Electron Laser sources such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) to study ultrafast dynamics in molecular systems.