The spectroscopy of very cold gases
Abstract
The technique of supersonic free jet spectroscopy can be used to study the structure and dynamics of molecules which have been cooled to far below their boiling points but which remain in the gas phase. Cooling of the internal degrees of freedom, the molecular rotations and vibrations, produces a highly resolved and greatly simplified molecular spectrum. The principles of the technique are discussed and its utility is demonstrated by two examples: the spectroscopy of porphyrins in the gas phase and the photochemistry of van der Waals molecules.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- October 1981
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.214.4518.263
- Bibcode:
- 1981Sci...214..263L
- Keywords:
-
- Cold Gas;
- Free Jets;
- Gas Spectroscopy;
- Molecular Relaxation;
- Molecular Rotation;
- Spectroscopic Analysis;
- Degrees Of Freedom;
- Gas Streams;
- Molecular Beams;
- Photochemical Reactions;
- Porphyrins;
- Supersonic Jet Flow;
- Van Der Waals Forces;
- Vibrational Spectra;
- Atomic and Molecular Physics