Significant events in the Group's History
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1897
In 1897 Prof Thomas Preston discovered splitting in the spectral lines of cadmium and zinc, inexplicable with the pre-quantum radiation theory. Explanation of the Anomalous Zeeman Effect was to come with the advent of a quantum picture of the atom.Learn more about 1897
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1930's
In the late 1930s, Professor Thomas Nevin identified a septet-septet molecular transition, the most complex transition array ever analysed. Prof. Nevin went on to become Dean of Science and acting president of UCD.
Learn more about 1930's -
1950's
Prof. Kevin Carroll, who joined UCD in 1955, was one of the foremost molecular spectroscopists of his era and worked closely with Nobel Laureates Gerhard Hertzberg & Robert Mulliken on molecular nitrogen and diatomic molecules containing nitrogen.
Learn more about 1950's -
1960's
In the 1960s Prof. Kevin Carroll purchased the first Q-switched Ruby Laser in Ireland. He started a new area of research here in laser plasma spectroscopy. This research continues to the present day.
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1980's
In the 1980's Gerry O'Sullivan, as a PhD student, explored the soft x-ray emission spectra of rare-earth elements, leading to a deeper understanding of complex atomic spectra and foreshadowing the Group's development of laser-plasma light sources.