Coulomb Explosion Imaging of Small Clusters of Helium (Maxim Kunitski) -- Mass Spectroscopy of Pure and Doped Droplets (Paul Scheier) -- Infra-red Spectroscopy (Gary Douberly) -- Electronic Spectroscopy (Alkwin Slenczka) -- Spectroscopy of Biomolecules (Gert von Helden and Eike Mucha) -- X-Ray Imaging of Droplets (Thomas Möller) -- Structure of Biomolecules in Droplets (Wei Kong) -- Alignment of Molecules in Helium Droplets (Henrik Stapelfeldt) -- . Fabrication of Metal Clusters in Helium Droplets (Florian Lackner) -- Ultrafast Dynamics in Droplets (Marcel Mudrich, and Frank Stienkemeier) -- Appendix: Helium Droplet Tutorial (Jan Peter Toennies).

Open Access

This open access book covers recent advances in experiments using the ultra-cold, very weakly perturbing superfluid environment provided by helium nanodroplets for high resolution spectroscopic, structural and dynamic studies of molecules and synthetic clusters. The recent infra-red, UV-Vis studies of radicals, molecules, clusters, ions and biomolecules, as well as laser dynamical and laser orientational studies, are reviewed. The Coulomb explosion studies of the uniquely quantum structures of small helium clusters, X-ray imaging of large droplets and electron diffraction of embedded molecules are also described. Particular emphasis is given to the synthesis and detection of new species by mass spectrometry and deposition electron microscopy.