VIBRATIONAL RELAXATION IN A PULSED-DISCHARGE MOLECULAR BEAM
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Date
2002
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Publisher
Ohio State University
Abstract
Vibrational relaxation has been systematically investigated in our pulsed-discharge molecular beam by means of Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Three diatomics, SO, SiO and SiS, as well as several polyatomic molecules (OCS, $OC_{3}S, HC_{3}N, HC_{5}N$ and $SiC_{2}S)$ have been studied. Rotational transitions in highly excited vibrational states $(u > 30)$ have been observed for all diatomic species, while several bending and stretching modes were populated enough to be detected for the different polyatomics. Comparisons of vibrational populations with and without the discharge were possible for OCS and $HC_{3}$N. Vibrational temperature diagrams were derived for each species, and with these it is possible to propose a general model which qualitatively explains our observations.
Description
Author Institution: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University