Intramolecular and Intermolecular Energy Transfer in Highly Vibrationally Excited Molecules

Abstract

The research described in this Final Report was directed at studying the dynamics of vibrationally excited molecules, which are important in many energetic environments. The first goal was assembly of an ultrafast laser system producing 1 mJ, 100 fs pulses of 800 nm light, and implementing nonlinear processes for converting those pulses to infrared and ultraviolet light. This system permitted the a direct measurement of the time for intramolecular vibrational energy flow in nitric acid (HONO2) initially prepared with two quanta of O-H bond stretching excitation. The measurements showed that energy flowed out of that initially excited vibration in 12 ps, a time consistent with a coupling matrix element of about 0.08 /cm. This result on an isolated molecule sets the stage for the a similar measurement in a liquid.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 18, 1998
Accession Number
ADA341237

Entities

People

  • F. F. Crim

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acids
  • Air Force
  • Amplifiers
  • Chemistry
  • Couplings
  • Dissociation
  • Energy
  • Energy Transfer
  • Excitation
  • Frequency
  • Laser Pulses
  • Lasers
  • Measurement
  • Molecules
  • Nitric Acid
  • Repetition Rate
  • Vibration

Readers

  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Quantum Chemistry

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers