Abstract: | It was shown in the dipole approximation of optical rotation that in the general case only in orientationally anisotropic vapors is the rotational force dependent on the intramolecular orientation of both the electric and magnetic dipole moments. Expressions relating the optical rotational force to the intramolecular orientation of these moments, the orientational distribution in an anisotropic ensemble, and the configuration of a measurement have been obtained. Calculated dependences of the rotational force on the intramolecular orientation of the magnetic moment at a fixed electric moment and “rotational force excitation spectra” obtained for different types of rigid asymmetric top molecules and rotational contours are presented. It is proposed to measure the intramolecular orientation of the electric and magnetic dipole moments with the use of the rotational force normalized to that detected in the case of observation at a “magic” angle to the direction of the exciting light electric vector. Institute of Molecular and Atomic Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 70, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 843–849, November–December, 1998. |