A combined absorption-wavelength modulation technique for diode laser spectroscopy of van der Waals complexes in a pulsed planar jet

A tunable diode laser spectrometer modified for the investigation of molecular gases and van der Waals complexes in a supersonic jet is described. Simply constructed, reliable pulsed sources with 15 mu m X (7-40 mm) slits were used at a repetition rate of the order of 100 Hz for the cooling of gases and for the formation of complexes. A double modulation technique based on a simultaneous modulation of the jet and a 10 kHz wavelength modulation of the diode laser enabled measurements of absorbances 1.3 X 10(-5) (3 X 10(-5) in relative absorption) at operating: conditions corresponding to 1 s output time constant of the registration system. While type multireflection optics enlarged the absorption path of the laser radiation through the jet by 16 times. New spectra of the van der Waals complexes Ar-CH4 and Kr-CH4 in the 7 mu m region are presented in order to show the characteristics of the spectrometer. The final resolution in the recorded spectra was better than 40 MHz. The relational temperature of the complexes produced by the present jet source was 7-10 K, which could be compared to the 13 K excitation temperature measured for the two lowest rotational states of F symmetry of the methane monomer. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.