title: A high-sensitivity femtosecond to microsecond time-resolved infrared vibrational spectrometer.
abstract: We describe an apparatus that provides, for the first time, a seamless bridge between femtosecond and microsecond time-resolved Raman and infrared vibrational spectroscopy. The laser system comprises an actively Q-switched sub-nanosecond pulsed kilohertz laser electronically synchronized to an ultrafast titanium sapphire regenerative amplifier to within 0.2 ns. The ultrafast amplifier provides the stable probe light source enabling high-sensitivity infrared vibrational spectroscopy of transients. Time-resolved infrared spectra of the excited-state relaxation dynamics of metal carbonyl compounds are presented to illustrate the capability of the apparatus, and transient data is resolved from 1 picosecond to over 100 microseconds. The results are compared to conventional nanosecond Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and laser based flash photolysis time-resolved infrared technology.
authors.affiliation: Central Laser Facility, CCLRC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom. m.towrie@rl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Towrie
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gabrielsson
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Matousek
authors.forename: Anthony W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Ana Maria Blanco
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Antonín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vlcek
mesh_terms: D003199:Computer Systems; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007700:Kinetics; D007834:Lasers; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D008670:Metals