title: Tunable diode laser spectrometer for pulsed supersonic jets: application to weakly-bound complexes and clusters.
abstract: The design and operation of an apparatus for studying infrared spectra of weakly-bound complexes is described in detail. A pulsed supersonic jet expansion is probed using a tunable Pb-salt diode laser spectrometer operated in a rapid-scan mode. The jet may be fitted with either pinhole or slit shaped nozzles, the former giving lower effective rotational temperatures, and the latter giving sharper spectral lines. Notable features of the apparatus include use of a toroidal multi-pass mirror system to give over 100 passes of the laser through the supersonic jet, use of the normal laser controller for laser sweeping during both setup and data acquisition, and use of a simple semi-automated wavenumber calibration procedure. Performance of the apparatus is illustrated with observed spectra of the van der Waals complex He-OCS, and the seeded helium clusters He(N)-OCS and He(N)-CO.
authors.affiliation: Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa Ont., Canada K1A 0R6.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Brookes
authors.forename: Changhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Anstey
authors.forename: Bryan G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Fulsom
authors.forename: Ke-Xian
authors.initials: KX
authors.lastname: Au Yong
authors.forename: Jenna M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: A R W
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: McKellar
mesh_terms: D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005544:Forecasting; D007834:Lasers; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D012984:Software; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances