Spectral intensities in the ν3 bands of 12CH4 and 13CH4

Relative and absolute line intensities for the ν₃ bands of the ¹²C and ¹³C isotopic varieties of methane have been measured using a tunable difference-frequency laser spectrometer. From these data the integrated band strength of ¹³CH₄ is calculated to be 0.983 ± 0.007 that of ¹²CH₄, with the uncertainty representing three standard deviations. The absolute ν₃ bandstrength for ¹²CH₄ is 266.1 ± 3.0 cm^?2 atm ^?1 at 294.7 K where the errors are dominated by the pressure measurement. This band strength corresponds to an effective transition moment 〈μ₃〉 = 0.0534(3)D for ¹²CH₄ from which the ν₄ band dipole moment and the Herman-Wallis F factor can be estimated using a recent force field model for methane.