THE INFRARED ABSORPTION SPECTRUM OF SOLID HYDROGEN AT HIGH RESOLUTION

Author Institution: McLennan Laboratory, University of Toronto“Previous work has shown that the fundamental band in the infrared absorption spectrum of solid hydrogen consists of the super-position of two patterns, one of sharp and one of broad maxima. The sharp components have been attributed to induction by molecular quadrupole moments. The structure of these sharp components of the fundamental band and of the first overtone has now been studied at high resolution with a grating spectrometer. The strongest lines of the fundamental band correspond to simultaneous transitions, vibrational and rotational, in two molecules. When the ortho-para ratio is decreased the lines become much sharper and the double transitions are resolved into a number of closely spaced components. The overtone band shows a complex pattern in which lines corresponding to double vibrational transitions have predominant intensity. A possible interpretation of these results will be discussed.