Infrared Predissociation Spectra of Water Dimer in a Supersonic Molecular Beam

This work was supported by the Director, Office of Energy Research, Office of Basic Energy Science, Chemical Sciences Division of the US Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC03-76SF00098. JGF acknowledges the support of a NATO/SERC Post-Doctoral Fellowship.Author Institution: MMRD, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California; MMRD Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California and Department of Chemistry, University of California; Department of Physics, University of CaliforniaThe infrared absorbtion spectrum of the hydrogen-bonded water dimer, $(H_{2}O)_{2}$, formed in a supersonic expansion, was recorded in the region of the OH stretch by monitoring the predissociation resulting from the absorption of the radiation. The conditions were such that there was minimal contribution to the observed spectrum from higher water polymers. The observed features show considerable structure, with widths that appear to be limited by the optical resolution of $2 cm^{-1}$. A combination band of the OH stretch with the water bend and an overtone of the bending vibration were also observed