Knowledge Bank

A diode-laser spectrometer has been used to obtain the IR spectrum of the $v2$ band of chlorine nitrate which was prepared by the reaction of CIF with dry nitric acid. Observed line widths range between 65 to 90 MHz, mainly due to laser jitter. The effective rotational temperature obtained was about 23 K and the spectrum was completely resolved with the exception of a-type Q-branches at the band center. The P- and R-branch lines of both $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">35</mrow>}C\ell$ and $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">37</mrow>}C\ell$ isotopic species have been completely assigned, and a complete set of spectroscopic constants has been derived for both isotopomers. Attempts to model the band contour at stratospheric temperatures will be discussed.