Highly sensitive absorption spectroscopy of carbon dioxide by ICLAS-VeCSEL between 8800 and 9530 cm

The absorption spectrum of carbon dioxide has been studied between 8800 and 9530 cm⁻¹ by intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy based on a vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VeCSEL). Previous laboratory spectra at high resolution were nearly absent in the considered spectral region. Experiments were carried with natural carbon dioxide and with ¹³C enriched carbon dioxide leading to the determination of the rovibrational parameters of a total of 15 very weak vibrational transitions, including two bands of the ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O isotopologue. The observed transitions are assigned to components of the 2ν₁ + 3ν₃ triad and of the much weaker 5ν₁ + ν₃ hexad. Our measured line positions are found in excellent agreement with the predictions of the effective Hamiltonians developed for ¹²C¹⁶O₂ and ¹³C¹⁶O₂ but significant deviations were evidenced for the ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O minor isotopologue. The relative band intensities within each polyad are also discussed on the basis of the effective Hamiltonian model.     

Intracavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy of D2O between 12 850 and 13 380 cm

The high resolution absorption spectrum of dideuterated water, D₂O, has been recorded by Intracavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ICLAS) in the 12 850-13 380 cm⁻¹ spectral region which is the higher energy region reported so far for this water isotopologue. Very high deuterium enrichment was necessary to minimize the HDO absorption lines overlapping the D₂O spectrum. The achieved sensitivity (noise equivalent absorption α_min ∼ 10⁻⁹ cm⁻¹) allowed detecting transitions with line strengths on the order of 5 × 10⁻²⁸ cm/molecule. The spectrum analysis, based on recent variational calculations has provided a set of 422 new rovibrational energy levels belonging to 11 vibrational states, including rotational sublevels for four new vibrational states and one level of the (0 9 1) highly excited bending state. The very weak (1 0 4)-(0 0 0) band at 13 263.902 cm⁻¹, which is the highest D₂¹⁶O band currently observed, could be assigned despite the fact that the HDO absorption in the region is stronger by three orders of magnitude. The list of 996 D₂¹⁶O transitions is provided as Supplementary Material.     

Line shift and mixing in the ν4 and 2ν2 band of NH3 perturbed by H2 and Ar

Pressure induced line shift and line mixing parameters have been measured for 66 rovibrational lines in the ν₄ band and for 10 lines in the 2ν₂ band of NH₃ perturbed by H₂ and Ar at room temperature (T = 296 K). These lines with J values ranging from 2 to 10 are located in the spectral range 1450-1600 cm⁻¹. Experiments were made with a high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer. The line shifts and line mixing parameters have been derived from the non-linear least-square multi-pressure fitting technique. The shift coefficients are compared with those calculated from the Robert-Bonamy formalism (RB). The results are generally in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.     

High sensitivity cw-cavity ringdown and Fourier transform absorption spectroscopies of CO2

The absorption spectrum of ¹³CO₂ has been recorded by cw-cavity ringdown spectroscopy with a new set up based on fibered DFB lasers. By using a series of 31 DFB lasers, the spectrum of carbon dioxide could be recorded in the 6130-6750 cm⁻¹ region with a typical sensitivity of 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹. The spectrum has also been recorded between 4400 and 8500 cm⁻¹ with a Fourier transform spectrometer associated with a multi-pass cell (maximum path length of 105 m). The new observations obtained both by FTS and CRDS represent a significant extension of the available data. For instance, more than 4000 line positions were measured and assigned in the CRDS spectrum while only 232 line positions are listed in the HITRAN database. Altogether, the band by band analysis has led to the determination of the rovibrational parameters of 65, 7, and 24 bands for the ¹³C¹⁶O₂, ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁷O, and ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O isotopomers, respectively. As some observed line positions show significant deviations from the predictions of the effective Hamiltonian model, the new observed line positions were gathered with the data available in the literature to refine the set of effective Hamiltonian parameters of the ¹³C¹⁶O₂ isotopic species. The refined set of 96 effective Hamiltonian parameters reproduces more than 14 650 line positions of ¹³C¹⁶O₂ with an RMS=0.002 cm⁻¹. A detailed comparison with the line positions retrieved from Venus spectra and the line list provided by HITRAN is also presented and discussed.     

Line shape of the far-wing beyond the band head of the CO2ν3 band

Carbon dioxide is one of the most important trace gases in the terrestrial atmosphere. The spectral data required in remote sensing are the spectral parameter of each absorption line and a line shape model. This paper describes the absorption properties of CO₂ near 2400 cm⁻¹; these properties are of interest to those in the atmospheric temperature sounding field. The shape of the far-wing of N₂- and O₂-broadened CO₂ lines was investigated in the 2200-2500 cm⁻¹ spectral region in a temperature range of atmospheric interest (230-318 K). We focused on the higher rotational quantum number of the R-branch in the ν₃ band, where the effect of the far-wing is enhanced. The effect of the far-wing has been studied extensively by others, since the CO₂ν₃ band is known to exhibit sub-Lorentzian behavior. Here, we show the observed spectra along with calculated spectra for five temperatures. We used first-order line-mixing and the χ-factor, which accounts for the effect of the far-wing, to create the calculated spectra. Our results provide new knowledge of quantum interference of the spectral line in the ν₃ band of CO₂.     

Detection and analysis of new bands of O3 by CRDS between 6500 and 7300 cm

The absorption spectrum of the ¹⁶O₃ isotopologue of ozone has been recorded in the 7000-7920 cm⁻¹ region by high sensitivity CW-Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy. This report is devoted to the analyses of the 7065-7300 cm⁻¹ region dominated by the ν₁ + 2ν₂ + 5ν₃ and ν₁ + 5ν₂ + 3ν₃ A-type bands at 7130.8 and 7286.8 cm⁻¹ respectively. 289 transitions were assigned to the ν₁ + 2ν₂ + 5ν₃ band. The corresponding line positions were modeled with an effective Hamiltonian involving Coriolis resonance interactions between the (1 2 5) upper state and the (4 4 0), (0 2 6) and (6 1 0) dark states, and an anharmonic resonance interaction with the (2 0 5) state. The very strong interaction (up to 50% mixing of the wavefunctions) between the (1 2 5) and (6 1 0) states leads to the observation of two extra lines of the 6ν₁ + ν₂ band due to a resonance intensity transfer. 213 transitions of the ν₁ + 5ν₂ + 3ν₃ band were assigned and modeled taking into account a Coriolis resonance interaction with the (3 6 0) state.We take the opportunity of the present work to report the analysis of the very weak 4ν₂ + 4ν₃ B-type band at 6506.1 cm⁻¹ which was assigned from previously recorded CRDS spectra. 286 transitions were modeled using the effective Hamiltonian approach.The dipole transition moment parameters of the three analyzed bands were determined by a least-squares fit to the measured line intensities. For the three studied band systems, the effective Hamiltonian and transition moment operator parameters were used to generate line lists provided as Supplementary Materials.     

High sensitivity CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy of water in the region of the 1.5 μm atmospheric window

The absorption spectrum of natural water vapour around 1.5 μm has been recorded with a typical sensitivity of 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹ by using a CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy set up based on fibred DFB lasers. A series of 31 DFB lasers has allowed a full coverage of the 6130.8-6748.5 cm⁻¹ (1.63-1.48 μm) region corresponding to the H transparency band of the atmosphere. The line parameters (wavenumber and intensity) of a total of 5190 lines, including 4247 lines of water vapor, were derived by a one by one fit of the lines to a Voigt profile. Different isotopologues of water (H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, and HD¹⁶O) present in natural abundance in the sample contribute to the spectrum. For the main isotopologue, H₂¹⁶O, 2130 lines were measured with line intensities as weak as 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule while only 926 lines (including a proportion of 30% inaccurate calculated lines) with a minimum intensity of 3 × 10⁻²⁷ cm/molecule are provided by the HITRAN and GEISA databases. Our comparison in the whole 5750-7965 cm⁻¹ region, has also evidenced that an error in the process of conversion of the intensity units from cm⁻²/atm to cm⁻¹/(molecule × cm⁻²) at 296 K, has led to H₂¹⁶O line intensities values listed in the HITRAN-2000 database, systematically 8 % below the original FTS values. The rovibrational assignment was performed on the basis of the ab initio calculations by Schwenke and Partridge with a subsequent refinement and validation using the Ritz combination principle together with all previously measured water transitions relevant to this study. This procedure allowed determining 172, 139, 71, and 115 new energy levels for the H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, and HD¹⁶O isotopologues, respectively. The results are compared with the available databases and discussed in regard of previous investigations by Fourier transform spectroscopy. The spectrum analysis has showed that most of the transitions which cannot be assigned to water are very weak and are due to impurities such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, leaving only about 3% of the observed transitions unassigned. The interest of a detailed knowledge of water absorption for trace detectors developed in the 1.5 μm range is underlined: for instance HDO contributes significantly to the considered spectrum while no HDO line parameters are provided by the HITRAN database.     

The millimeter-wave spectrum of chlorine nitrate (ClONO2): The ν6 vibrational state

The pure rotational spectrum of chlorine nitrate in its v₆ = 1 excited vibrational state has been studied. A total of 2901 lines, with K_a extending to 33 in the ³⁵Cl isotopologue and 30 in the ³⁷Cl isotopologue, respectively, have been recorded and assigned. This analysis, along with our recently reported study of the ν₅/ν₆ν₉ dyad and the improved energy levels of ν₉ reported in this paper, should make possible accurate simulation of the corresponding ν₆ band and its complex hot band structure near 435 cm⁻¹.     

Temperature dependence of the absorption spectrum of CH4 by high resolution spectroscopy at 81 K: (II) The icosad region (1.49-1.30 μm)

The high resolution absorption spectrum of methane has been recorded at liquid nitrogen temperature by differential absorption spectroscopy between 6717 and 7351 cm⁻¹ (1.49-1.36 μm) using a cryogenic cell and a series of distributed feed back (DFB) diode lasers. The investigated spectral region corresponds to the very congested low energy part of the icosad for which the HITRAN database provides neither rovibrational assignments nor the lower state energies. The positions and strengths at 81 K of 9389 transitions were obtained from the spectrum analysis. The minimum value of the measured line intensities (at 81 K) is on the order of 10⁻²⁶ cm/molecule. From the variation of the line strength between 81 K and 296 K, the low energy values of a total of 4646 transitions were determined. They represent 79.4% and 68.4% of the total absorbance in the region at 81 and 296 K, respectively, and include 28 transitions assigned to the ν₂+4ν₄ band near 6765 cm⁻¹. The reliability of the method based on the association of lines with coinciding centers in the 81 K and 296 K spectra is discussed. The results of the present analysis have been combined with previously analyzed high energy part of the icosad dominated by the ν₂+2ν₃ band near 7510 cm⁻¹. The line list for the whole icosad (6717-7655 cm⁻¹) consists of 12 865 transitions at 81 K.     

Intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy of HDO between 11 645 and 12 330 cm

The weak absorption spectrum of monodeuterated water, HDO, has been recorded by intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy (ICLAS) between 11 645 and 12 330 cm⁻¹. This spectrum is dominated by the ν₂ + 3ν₃ band of HDO at 11969.76 cm⁻¹. A total of 497 energy levels belonging to 12 vibrational states were determined while only 140 levels were previously reported from a recent investigation by Fourier transform spectroscopy in the same spectral region. The rovibrational identification process of the 1378 lines assigned to the HDO isotopologue was mostly based on the results of the accurate variational calculations of Schwenke and Partridge. The overall agreement between these calculations and the observed spectrum is very good. However, strong discrepancies in the calculated line intensities were evidenced in a few cases corresponding to an intensity transfer to a dark state through local resonance interaction.     

N2- and O2-broadening of CO2 for the (301)III ← (000) band at 6231 cm

The N₂- and O₂-broadening effect have been investigated for 10 absorption lines of the CO₂ (30⁰1)_III ← (00⁰0) band centered at 6231 cm⁻¹, in the range from P(28) to R(28) by a near-infrared diode-laser spectrometer. We have analyzed the observed line profiles with the Galatry function, and determined the N₂- and O₂-broadening coefficients precisely. The air-broadening coefficients for these lines have been derived. The present results are compared with those of the previous studies for this band and with some of the other bands.     

High sensitivity absorption spectroscopy of methane at 80 K in the 1.58 μm transparency window: Temperature dependence and importance of the CH3D contribution

The high resolution absorption spectrum of methane in the 1.58 μm transparency window has been recorded at room temperature and at 79 K by CW-Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy using a cryogenic cell and a series of Distributed Feed Back (DFB) diode lasers. The achieved sensitivity (α_min ∼ 3 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹) has allowed for a detailed characterization of the 6289-6526 cm⁻¹ region which corresponds to the lowest opacity of the transparency window. A list of 6868 and 4555 transitions with intensities as weak as 1 × 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule was constructed from the recordings at 297 and 79 K, respectively. By comparison with a spectrum of CH₃D recorded separately by Fourier Transform Spectroscopy, 1282 and 640 transitions of monodeuterated methane, CH₃D, in natural abundance in our sample were identified at 297 and 79 K, respectively.The rotational temperature determined from the intensity distribution of the 3ν₂ band of CH₃D (79.3 K) was found in good agreement with the temperature value previously obtained from the Doppler line broadening. The reduction of the rotational congestion by cooling down to 79 K reveals a spectral region near 6300 cm⁻¹ where CH₃D transitions are dominant.The low energy values of the transitions observed both at 79 K and at room temperature were derived from the variation of their line intensities. These transitions with lower energy determination represent 93.9% and 68.4% of the total absorbance in the region, at 79 K and room temperature, respectively. The quality of the obtained empirical low energy values is demonstrated for CH₄ by the marked propensity of the empirical low J values to be close to integers. The line lists at 79 K and room temperature provided as Supplementary Material allow accounting for the temperature dependence of methane absorption between these two temperatures. The investigated region covering the 5ν₄ band of the ¹²CH₄ isotopologue will be valuable for the theoretical treatment of this band which is the lowest energy band of the icosad.     

CW-cavity ringdown spectroscopy of carbon dioxide isotopologues near 1.5 μm

The absorption spectra of carbon dioxide in natural isotopic abundance and with 99% enrichment in ¹³C have been recorded by CW-cavity ringdown spectroscopy in two specific spectral regions: 5957-6122 and 6745-6833 cm⁻¹. The spectra were obtained at Doppler limited resolution by using a CW-CRDS spectrometer based on fibered DFB lasers. The typical sensitivity of 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹, allowed for the detection of lines with intensity as weak as 5 × 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule. More than 2900 line positions of the six major isotopologues contributing to the spectra (¹²C¹⁶O₂, ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁷O, ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁸O, ¹³C¹⁶O₂, ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁷O and ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O), were measured and assigned on the basis of their respective global effective Hamiltonian models. For comparison, only 507 lines are provided by the HITRAN database in these spectral regions. The band by band analysis has led to the determination of the rovibrational parameters of a total of 52 bands, 30 of them being newly reported. Most of the observed line positions show an agreement close to the experimental uncertainty (1-2 × 10⁻³ cm⁻¹) with the predictions of their respective effective Hamiltonian models. However, the quality of the predictions degrades for the minor isotopologues reaching maximum deviations of 0.35 cm⁻¹ in one specific case. For several bands, rovibrational transitions with J values between 60 and 90 could be newly detected. While an excellent agreement is observed with the line positions predicted by the Hamiltonian models, the comparison of these observations with the line positions listed in the HITRAN database or extrapolated by using the best FTS rotational constants available in the literature has evidenced significant deviations.     

High sensitivity ICLAS of H2O in the region of the second decade (11 520-12 810 cm)

The high resolution absorption spectrum of the H₂¹⁸O isotopologue of water has been recorded by Intracavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ICLAS) with a sensitivity on the order of α_min ∼ 10⁻⁹ cm⁻¹. The 11 520-12 810 cm⁻¹ spectral region corresponding to the 3ν + δ decade of vibrational states, was explored with an ICLAS spectrometer based on a Ti:Sapphire laser. It allowed detecting transitions with an intensity down to 10⁻²⁷ cm/molecule which is about 100 times lower than the weaker line intensities available in the literature, in particular in the HITRAN database.The rovibrational assignment was performed on the basis of the results of variational calculations and allowed for assigning 3659 lines to the H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, HD¹⁶O and HD¹⁸O species, leaving only 1.7% unassigned transitions. A line list including 1712 transitions of H₂¹⁸O has been generated and assigned leading to the determination of 692 rovibrational energy levels belonging to a total of 16 vibrational states, 386 being newly observed. A deviation on the order of 25% has been evidenced for the average intensity values given by HITRAN and the results of variational calculations. Ninety two transitions of the HD¹⁸O isotopologue could also be assigned and the corresponding upper rovibrational levels are given.     

High sensitivity CW-CRDS spectroscopy of CO2, OCO and OCO between 5851 and 7045 cm: Line positions analysis and critical review of the current databases

The exhaustive line positions analysis of the absorption spectrum of carbon dioxide in natural abundance has been performed on the basis of high sensitivity CW-Cavity Ring Down spectroscopy between 5851 and 7045 cm⁻¹ (1.71-1.42 μm). The achieved sensitivity (noise equivalent absorption α_min ∼ 2-5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹) have allowed the detection of 8293 transitions of the ¹²C¹⁶O₂, ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁷O and ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁸O isotopologues. They belong to a total of 130 bands. Line intensities of the weakest transitions are on the order of 2 × 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule. The rovibrational assignments were performed on the basis of accurate predictions of the effective Hamiltonian model of the respective isotopologues. The band-by-band analysis has allowed deriving accurate spectroscopic parameters of 121 bands from a fit of the measured line positions. A number of resonance interactions were identified. In particular, the first observation of an interpolyad coupling is reported for the ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁸O isotopologue. The results of the complete line positions analysis are provided as Supplementary material.The obtained experimental dataset which is the most complete in the considered region, has been used for a critical review of the most currently used spectroscopic databases of carbon dioxide: HITRAN, GEISA, HITEMP, and the recent JPL and CDSD databases.     

Global effective Hamiltonians of OCO and OCO improved from CW-CRDS observations in the 5900-7000 cm region

The parameters of the polyad models of the effective Hamiltonian of the ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁷O and ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O isotopologues of carbon dioxide have been refined by the least-squares fittings to the line positions collected from the literature. Such refinement has become necessary as the observed dataset has been significantly extended by our CW-CRDS observations in the 5900-7000 cm⁻¹ region. In the case of the ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁷O isotopologue, 1151 line positions of 11 bands have been used to refine the effective Hamiltonian parameters published by Chédin [A. Chédin, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 76 (1979) 430-491]. With the obtained set of parameters, the collected line positions are reproduced with a RMS (root mean squares of the residuals) equal to 0.0013 cm⁻¹. In the case of the ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O isotopologue, 61 parameters of the effective Hamiltonian were fitted to more than 6410 line positions. A weighted standard deviation of χ = 1.77 and a global RMS of 0.0017 cm⁻¹, close to the experimental accuracy, were achieved. However, several rotational levels of the 31113 state (P = 10) could not be reproduced in the frame of this polyad model and were then excluded from the fit. We found that these levels are affected by an anharmonic resonance interaction with the 51106 vibrational state (P = 11) leading to energy shifts up to 0.060 cm⁻¹ and significant intensity transfer to several extra lines which could be detected. The coupling matrix element has been estimated to 0.11 cm⁻¹ from the detailed analysis of the experimental spectrum. This is the first evidence of an interpolyad resonance interaction in the case of the carbon dioxide molecule. In order to extend the input spectroscopic information, the weak lines left unassigned in our previous analysis of the CW-CRDS spectrum of the ¹³C enriched carbon dioxide [Y. Ding, P. Macko, D. Romanini, V.I. Perevalov, S.A. Tashkun, J.-L. Teffo, S.-M. Hu, A. Campargue, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 226 (2004) 146-160.] have been revisited. Thirteen ¹³C¹⁶O₂ bands, one ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁷O band and two ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁸O bands could be newly assigned together with a number of transitions corresponding to high J values of previously observed bands. The spectroscopic constants G_v, B_v, and D_v for the unperturbed bands have been fitted to the observed line positions.     

High sensitivity ICLAS of D2O between 12 450 and 12 850 cm

The weak absorption spectrum of dideuterated water, D₂O, has been recorded between 12 450 and 12 850 cm⁻¹ by high sensitivity Intracavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ICLAS). This spectral region corresponds to the (ν₁ + ν₂/2 + ν₃) = 5 polyad, dominated by the 4ν₁ + ν₃ band centered at 12 743.035 cm⁻¹. The achieved sensitivity has allowed for the detection of lines with a minimum intensity of 2 × 10⁻²⁸ cm/molecule i.e. typically two orders of magnitude lower than previous observations in the region considered. A total of 586 energy levels belonging to 11 vibrational states were determined. The rovibrational assignment process of 1025 lines ascribed to D₂O was based on new results of variational calculations by Shirin et al. [S.V. Shirin, N.F. Zobov, O.L. Polyansky, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, in press, doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2007.07.010]. The overall agreement between these calculations and the observed spectrum is good both for the line positions and line intensities. The difficulties encountered while performing the rovibrational labeling and the assignment of the weakest transitions not included in Combination Differences relations, are discussed.     

The absorption spectrum of phosphine (PH3) between 2.8 and 3.7 μm: Line positions, intensities, and assignments

Over 8000 line positions and intensities of phosphine (PH₃) at 3 μm have been measured at 0.0115 cm⁻¹ resolution with the McMath-Pierce Fourier Transform spectrometer at Kitt Peak. The observed line intensities ranged from 4.13 × 10⁻⁶ to 4.69 × 10⁻² cm⁻² atm⁻¹ at 296 K, for line positions between 2724.477 and 3601.652 cm⁻¹. This region spans eight interacting vibrational states: 3ν₂ (2940.8 cm⁻¹), 2ν₂ + ν₄ (3085.6 cm⁻¹), ν₂ + 2ν₄ (3214.9 cm⁻¹), ν₁ + ν₂ (3307.6 cm⁻¹), ν₂ + ν₃ (3310.5 cm⁻¹), 3ν₄ (∼3345 cm⁻¹), ν₁ + ν₄ (3426.9 cm⁻¹), and ν₃ + ν₄ (3432.9 cm⁻¹). Assignments have been determined for all the bands except 3ν₄ (a weak band in a highly congested area) for a total of 4232 transitions. The total integrated intensity for this region is 5.70 cm⁻² atm⁻¹ near 296 K, and assigned lines account for 79% of the observed absorption. The two strongest bands in the region are ν₁ + ν₄ and ν₃ + ν₄ with band strengths at 296 K of 1.61 and 2.01 cm⁻² atm⁻¹, respectively. An empirical database of PH₃ line parameters (positions, intensities, and assignments) is now available. Lower state energies (corresponding to assignments from this study) and line widths from the literature are included; default values are used for unassigned features.     

D2O: ICLAS between 13 600 and 14 020 cm and normal mode labeling of the vibrational states

The high resolution absorption spectrum of dideuterated water, D₂¹⁶O, has been recorded by Intracavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ICLAS) in the 13 600-14 020 cm⁻¹ spectral region which is the highest energy region reported so far for this water isotopologue. Because the HD¹⁶O absorption is stronger by three orders of magnitude in the region under study, it was necessary to use high deuterium enrichment in order to minimize the HD¹⁶O absorption lines overlapping the D₂¹⁶O spectrum. With the high sensitivity achieved (noise equivalent absorption α_min ∼10⁻⁹ cm⁻¹), transitions with line strengths on the order of 5 × 10⁻²⁸ cm molecule⁻¹ could be detected. The spectrum analysis, based on recent variational calculations has provided a set of 177 new rovibrational energy levels belonging to six vibrational states.The most complete set of 53 vibrational energy levels of D₂¹⁶O, including the three newly determined band origins, was constructed from an exhaustive review of the literature data. The fitting of the parameters of the vibrational effective Hamiltonian has allowed to reproduce the whole set of vibrational energies with an rms deviation of 0.055 cm⁻¹. This simple model gave consistent vibrational labels of the D₂¹⁶O states up to 18 000 cm⁻¹. Above 15 000 cm⁻¹, Fermi and Darling-Dennison resonance interaction were found to induce strong vibrational mixings of the wave functions in the normal mode basis, leading to ambiguous vibrational labeling.     

Diode laser absorption spectrum of cold bands of C2HD at 6500 cm

The absorption spectrum of acetylene-d has been observed at high resolution between 6470 and 6630 cm⁻¹ using an external cavity diode laser. Three cold bands have been observed: the strong 2ν₁ band, the weaker ν₁ + ν₂ + 2ν₅ band, and the (ν₁ + ν₃ + ν₅)¹ band, which gains its intensity through Coriolis resonance with 2ν₁. Centers of unblended lines are determined with an accuracy of approximately 10 MHz.