Christopher Arumainayagam
Nancy Harrison Kolodny '64 Professor of Chemistry
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I am a physical chemist who uses surface chemistry techniques to study radiation chemistry.
The goal of my research is to elucidate the fundamentals of electron-molecule interactions in the condensed phase. My studies of low-energy electron-induced chemical reactions may provide information valuable to
- furthering cost-efficient destruction of hazardous chemicals by high energy radiation
- understanding the electron-induced decomposition of feed gases used in the plasma processing of semiconductor devices
- clarifying the role, if any, of low-energy electrons, produced by cosmic rays, in interacting with chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to produce Cl atoms which contribute to the destruction of ozone and the formation of the ozone hole
- illuminating the dynamics of electron-induced oligomerization and/or polymerization
- explicating the astrochemistry of icy grains in the interstellar medium
- understanding electron-beam-induced deposition (EBID), a technique that may in the future provide an alternative to photolithography in the semiconductor industry to produce nanoscale structures.
My research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society, Research Corporation, and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. The majority of my research is done entirely at Wellesley College with undergraduate students using a state-of the-art ultrahigh vacuum chamber which incorporates many custom-built components. My student collaborators learn how to perform helium leak checks, change oil in vacuum pumps, build electronic circuits, spot-weld difficult junctions, and perform sophisticated computer modeling—hands-on work, especially important for prospective scientists. I have delighted in involving many high school and first-year Wellesley students in my research program.
In addition to teaching courses in introductory and physical chemistry, I have taught seminar courses in surface chemistry, computational chemistry,radiation chemistry and astrochemistry. I view teaching and research not as a struggle between two opposing forces but as a seamless blend of the two. For example, we use the equipment available in my research laboratory to reenact the classic experiment of Davisson and Germer as a dramatic confirmation of the wave nature of matter, a highly theoretical and abstract concept for most students.
My teaching style involves what is now called guided inquiry. The lecture outlines I hand out at the beginning of each lecture require students to fill in the missing material, allowing students to follow along and stay engaged during the lecture. Following each lecture, I also provide my students with in-depth notes whose fine-tuning requires a significant amount of my time each semester. What is unique about these notes is that I address, often in footnotes, student questions, going back over a decade, elicited from “one-minute” papers.
I have been the principal investigator of four successful National Science Foundation REU summer research grant proposals (2000–2013). The goal of the Chemistry Department’s summer research program is to encourage bright young women to pursue research careers in science and medicine through their participation in a research project as early as possible in their academic careers.
I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children, travelling, gardening, and playing table tennis (not ping pong). In my younger days, I enjoyed playing cricket, a perversion of which is baseball.
Education
- B.A., Harvard University
- Ph.D., Stanford University
Current and upcoming courses
A one-semester course for students who have completed more than one year of high school chemistry, replacing CHEM 105 and CHEM 205 as a prerequisite for more advanced chemistry courses. It presents the topics of nuclear chemistry, atomic structure and bonding, periodicity, kinetics, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, equilibrium, acid/base chemistry, solubility, and transition metal chemistry. All of these topics are presented in the context of both historical and contemporary applications. The laboratory includes experiments directly related to topics covered in lecture, an introduction of statistical analysis of data, molecular modeling and computational chemistry, instrumental and classical methods of analysis, thermochemistry, and solution equilibria. The course meets for four periods of lecture/discussion and one 3.5-hour laboratory.
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This course provides an in-depth study of the physical models used in the study of chemical systems, including both first-principle derivations and cutting-edge applications of such models. Topics include probability theory, classical thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, computational chemistry, philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics, time-dependent quantum mechanics, and kinetics. Additionally, there is an emphasis on implementing statistical and numerical models via computer programing, culminating in an independent project.. This course has a required co-requisite laboratory - CHEM 335L.
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The course will cover the foundations of astrochemistry, a young field at the intersection between chemistry and astronomy. Topics to be discussed include the interstellar medium, atomic and molecular physics, interstellar chemistry, molecular astronomy, and unresolved enigmas in the field, such as the homochirality of amino acids. The seminar will involve guest lectures by experts, group discussions, readings from the primary and review literature, field trip(s), movies (including a science fiction movie), weekly writing assignments, telescopic observations, and one day in a laboratory on earth.