Phase shift cavity ring down at low temperatures: Vibration–rotation overtone absorption of H–D (Δv= 4) at 297 and 105 K

Cryogenic mirror position actuator for spectroscopic applications

We demonstrate a mirror position actuator that operates in a wide temperature range from room temperature to a deep cryogenic regime (10 K). We use a Michelson interferometer to measure the actuator tuning range (and piezoelectric efficiency) in the full temperature range. We demonstrate an unprecedented range of tunability of the mirror position in the cryogenic regime (over 22 μm at 10 K). The capability of controlling the mirror position in the range from few to few tens of microns is crucial for cavity-enhanced molecular spectroscopy techniques, especially in the important mid-infrared spectral regime where the length of an optical cavity has to be tunable in a range larger than the laser wavelength. The piezoelectric actuator offering this range of tunability in the cryogenic conditions, on the one hand, will enable development of optical cavities operating at low temperatures that are crucial for spectroscopy of large molecules whose dense spectra are difficult to resolve at room temperature. On the other hand, this will enable us to increase the accuracy of the measurement of simple molecules aimed at fundamental studies.

Comb-locked cavity ring-down spectroscopy with variable temperature

Temperature dependence of molecular absorption line shape is important information for spectroscopic studies and applications. In this work, we report a comb-locked cavity ring-down spectrometer employing a cryogenic cooler to perform absorption spectroscopy measurements at temperatures between 40 K and 300 K. As a demonstration, we recorded the spectrum of the R(0) line in the (2-0) band of HD at 46 K. The temperature was also confirmed by the Doppler width of the HD line. Spectra of CH₄ near 1.394 μm were also recorded in a wide temperature range of 70-300 K. Lower-state energies of methane lines were analyzed by fitting these spectra, which can be directly compared with the HITRAN and TheoReTS databases. Considerable deviations were observed, indicating the need to investigate the assignments of the methane lines in this region.

Phase shift cavity ring down and Fourier transform infrared measurements of C-H vibrational transitions, energy levels, and intensities of (CH3)3Si-C≡C-H

Phase shift cavity ring down and Fourier transform IR techniques have been used to observe the C-H stretch fundamental and overtone absorptions of the acetylenic (Δυ = 1-5) and methyl (Δυ = 1-6) C-H bonds of trimethyl-silyl-acetylene [(CH3)3CSi≡CH] at 295 K. Harmonic frequencies ω(ν1), ω(a), and ω(s) and anharmonicities x(ν1), ω(a)x(a), ω(s)x(s) were calculated for the acetylenic, methyl out-of-plane, and methyl in-plane C-H bonds, respectively. The harmonically coupled anharmonic oscillator (HCAO) model was used to determine the overtone energy levels and assign the absorption bands to vibrational transitions of methyl C-H bonds. A hot band, assigned as υν1 + ν24 - ν24 is observed for transitions with Δυ = 1-5 in a region near the acetylenic stretch. The intensity of the hot band is reduced considerably at 240 K. The strength of a Fermi resonance between C-Ha transition (υν(a)) and the combination band ((υ-1)ν(a) + 2ν(bend)) with (υ = 3-6) was calculated using the experimental perturbed energies and relative intensities. The main bands are separated by computer deconvolution and are integrated at each level to get the experimental band strengths. For methyl absorptions, the dipole moment function is expanded as a function of two C-H stretching coordinates and the intensities are calculated in terms of the HCAO model where only the C-H modes are considered. Acetylenic intensities are derived with a one dimensional dipole moment function. The expansion coefficients are obtained from molecular orbital calculations. The intensities are calculated without using adjustable parameters and they are of the same order of magnitude of the experimental intensities for all C-H transitions.