Diode laser spectroscopy of ethylene overtones at 830 nm

A tunable diode laser spectrometer has been employed to examine the 3rd overtone absorption lines of C₂H₄ at around 12 000 cm⁻¹ (830 nm). The spectrometer sources are heterostructure AlGaAs tunable diode lasers operating “free-running”. By the aid of the wavelength modulation spectroscopy with the second harmonic detection technique and a Herriott type multipass cell 63 very weak absorption lines have been observed for the first time, with cross sections as low as 2 × 10⁻²⁶ cm²/mol, equivalent to . The self-broadening coefficient has been measured for one of the most intense lines.