Infrared Spectroscopy of Complexes

Abstract

Overviews of infrared laser spectroscopy of molecular complexes have been given by Miller [134], and by Leopold et al. in a review of current themes in microwave and infrared spectroscopy of weakly bound complexes [109]. I shall therefore give only a short summary here. Infrared spectroscopy is a well-established technique for the investigation of stable molecules. Infrared spectroscopy started in the 1930s (see [82]) and yielded a wealth of information on the structure and dynamics of chemically bound molecules. Infrared spectroscopy has been extended to the study of molecular complexes ever since laser techniques were combined with molecular-beam techniques. Early infrared studies of molecular complexes involved the use of long-path cells, which were cooled to low temperatures [156]. The first rotationally resolved spectroscopic studies of molecular complexes in molecular beams were performed in 1986–1988 [22, 133, 146, 158, 1]. Three distinct techniques are currently in use. The guiding principle of each technique will be presented. Detailed descriptions of the infrared laser systems involved can be found in the references below, and a more general description is given in [41] by Demtröder.