Doctoral Promotion Melby Johny

In her thesis, Melby worked on unraveling the role of solvent environment in determining the photophysics of ionized model chromophores. To do so, a bottom-up approach was adopted by systematically comparing an isolated molecule, pyrrole, and its singly hydrated pyrrole-water cluster. Her work contains improved methodologies to prepare a sub-Kelvin cold and pure beam of molecular clusters. Utilizing these pure samples, she investigated the role of the hydrogen-bonded water molecule in the relaxation dynamics of pyrrole after strong-field ionization and site-specific x-ray ionization, using 3D-momenta imaging techniques. Such studies revealed the protective role of a water molecule in reducing the radiation-induced damage of ionized biomolecules. Furthermore, the phenomenon of an enhanced strong-field-ionization was investigated in her thesis, shedding insights into the impact of the water molecule in the formation of highly charged ions for the dimer system.

Melby had performed this research within a framework of the EU-ITN project in the Horizon 2020 program “Molecular Electron Dynamics investigated by IntensE Fields and Attosecond Pulses (MEDEA)” at the Controlled Molecule Imaging group at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science. 

We at CMI wish Melby Johny the very best for her future life and career.