# PENDULAR STATES OF HCN DIMER AND TRIMER: THE USE OF MOLECULAR COMPLEXES IN ACHIEVING ALIGNMENT

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 Title: PENDULAR STATES OF HCN DIMER AND TRIMER: THE USE OF MOLECULAR COMPLEXES IN ACHIEVING ALIGNMENT Creators: Block, P. A.; Bemish, R. J.; Miller, R. E. Issue Date: 1992 Publisher: Ohio State University Abstract: Optothermal infrared spectroscopy has been used to observe highly pendular $states^{1}$of the HCN dimmer and trimer, resulting from the application of a large, uniform electric field. The spectra show a dramatic evolution from that of a free, rigid rotor-like system to that indicative of a pendulum bound by the electric field. These complexes are ideal for looking at alignment effects since they have large dipole moments and small rotational constants. As a result, the interaction between the dipole and the electric field can be made much larger than the rotational energy of the molecule. At the fields realized to date, the figure of merit, namely $\omega=\mu$E/B, is in the hundreds. For the lowest pendular states of these complexes, the molecular axis can be aligned to within $10^{0}$ (or better) of the field direction. Description: $^{1}$ B. Friedrich, D.P. Pullman and D.R. Herschbach, J. Phys. Chem. 95 8118 (1991) Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/12894 Other Identifiers: 1992-TG-05