Molecular motions in frozen water

Molecular diffusion in glassy materials is notoriously difficult to measure in the laboratory because glasses are thought to age on geological timescales. This is as true for condensed water films in the interstellar medium as it is for degradation of the active ingredients in amorphous pharmaceutical products. Quantifying diffusion in glassy molecular materials would have far reaching consequences. We are convinced that the recent discovery of spontaneously-generated electric fields in condensed molecular films will allow us to quantify the rate of diffusion in these deeply supercooled glasses, and we will start with water ice. Measuring diffusion in water ice would change our understanding of how chemical reactions can happen in space but would also demonstrate the means to synthesis better, more stable, glassy molecular solids like pharmaceuticals and molecular electronics.