Absorption spectrum (340-640 nm) of pure water .1. Photothermal measurements

We measured the absorption spectrum (340-640 nm) of the purest available water with photothermal deflection spectroscopy. Our spectrum exhibits an absorption minimum in the blue region of the spectrum that is deeper than in most previously documented pure-water absorption studies. We attribute this to exceptional sample purity and our technique's inherent freedom from scattering effects. Because the absorption minimum is significantly lower, our spectrum displays high-order molecular resonance structure not observed in any previous absorption studies to our knowledge. We find the minimum in the absorption spectrum of pure water is 0.0062 +/- 0.0006 m(-1) at 420 nm and 25 degrees C. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.