Measurement of collision‐induced shift and broadening of the ultraviolet transitions of OH

Using a cw tunable laser, absorption measurements were made to determine for the first time the shift and broadening of the ultraviolet transitions of OH induced by collisions with molecular nitrogen and oxygen. Similar measurements were also made for collisions with air and inert gases He, Ne, Ar, and Kr. Both the shift and broadening due to these collisions were found to depend linearly upon pressures in the range from 50 Torr up to 1 atm. The homogeneous linewidth for the P1(2) transition of OH in ambient air is determined to be (0.20±0.005) cm−1. Results with Ar and Kr show contributions not accounted for by the polarizability of the colliding species.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69793/2/JCPSA6-82-7-2877-1.pd