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PHOTOPHYSICS OF INFRARED MULTIPHOTON ABSORPTION BY THIOPHOSGENE by MARK NELSON SPENCER B.A., University of Pennsylvania (1978) SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DECEMBER 1982 c Massachusetts Institute of Technology Signature redacted Signature of the Author - Mark N. Spencer Signature redacted Department of Chemistry Certified by Jeffrey I. Steinfeld Thesis Supervisor Signature redacted Accepted by Glenn A. Berchtold Chairman, Depa rtmental Committee ArchJWjg MASSACFWCTTS INSTITUR OF CNOLO9y MAR 3 1 1983 LIBRARIES This doctoral thesis has been examined by a Committee of the Department of Chemistry as follows: redacted Professor Robert J. Silbey ,Signature Chairman Professor Jeffrey I. Steinfeld __ ___ __ __ ___ __ __ Signature redactedF-Thesis Supervisor Signature redacted Professor Robert W. Field, 2 PHOTOPHYSICS OF INFRARED MULTIPHOTON ABSORPTION BY THIOPHOSGENE by MARK NELSON SPENCER Submitted to the Department of Chemistry on December , 1982 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry ABSTRACT Infrared-visible double resonance experiments were done on thiophosgene under collisionless conditions and in a bulb to determine the dynamics of infrared multiphoton absorption in its sparse density of states region. In the absence of collisions thiophosgene absorbs at all excitation frequencies. Measurements of the ground state depletion as a function of C0 2 laser frequency do not correlate at all with the conventional infrared absorption spectrum. At excitation frequencies coincident with the v 4 overtone, no population build-up is observed in excited states of the 2v 4 manifold. The depletion of the ground state induced by the C0 2 laser decreases rapidly as the pressure of thiophosgene increases beyond 2 mTorr. Mixed gas experiments show that this collisional effect is proportional to long range intermolecular forces. Computer solution of the density matrix equations for the infrared excitation of prototypical five level vibrational ladders were carried out in conjunction with the experiments. They demonstrate that the observed phenomena are consistent with a model in which a system of extremely weak combination bands lying between 940 and 1100 cm- 1 provide an absorption continuum for C0 2 laser radiation in this frequency region. The computer simulations also allow us to hypothesize that the observed collisional effect is due to pressure broadening of rovibrational transitions in these very weak combination bands. However, the unusually high efficiency with which pressure broadening must occur in order to make this explanation work leaves open the possibility that other mechanisms are responsible for this behavior. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Jeffrey I. Steinfeld Title: Professor of Chemistry 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ... .. ... .. & 0 0 0 0 0 0 . 0 0 S 0 . 0 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . ... ...... 7 I. INTRODUCTION .. .. ... a a . 4 II. INFRARED -VISIBLE DOUBLE RESONANCE EXPERIME NTS .. a .. a 25 Ammonia . .... 0 a 0 0 0 0 0a . ..... 29 Osmium Tetroxide . ..... 32 ........ .a Biacetyl. .. ... a .. 32 ........ Formaldehyde . .... .. 34 Propynal. ... .....a . ... a .. 37 III. THIOPHOSGENE . .... ..... 41 A. Ground State (X A1 ). .* .. .. .. 42 B. Electronically Excited States . ..... 49 First Excited Singlet States (A(1A2) 49 Second Excited Singlet (B(lA1 )) 53 3 Triplet State (a( A2 )) . a - .. .. .54 IV. THEORY. ....... ....... .. a a 56 A. Schr6dinger Formulation . ... .... 56 Two-Photon Absorption .. a . 60 B. Density Matrix Formulation . a . ...... 67 .aa82 C. Density Matrix Solution: Computer Model . a a a a a a a a 4 . 95 V. EXPERIMENTAL . .. .. a-- * -- a -- -- - a A. Materials .. 95 1. Thiophosgene . 95 2. Added Gases .. 96 B. Delivery System . 96 1. Effusive Beam .. 96 2. Supersonic Beam. 97 3. Bul b Experiments . 98 C. Molecular Beam Machine. 98 . 0 0 .. 0 . 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - -- 0 - 0 .106 D. C0 2 Laser E. Dye Laser .. .. .0 . .0 . .* * * 0 -.. .. .. .109 0* . -111 F. Detection System . 0 . G. Triggering System ...... .. .115 .... .118 VI. Res ults . A. Collisonless Experiments . .. 0 0 *.. 118 1. Ground (Vibrationless State). .. .118 0 0. .143 2. Excited States . 0 0 0 B. Static Gas Experiments . 0. .. 146 1. Vibrationless Ground State . .. 146 2. Excited Vibrational States . 165 5 VII. DISCUSSION. .... ...... ... ... * .. * . 188 A. Collisionless Experiments ....... ........ 188 B. Bulb Experiments ... ... ... ... ... 195 REFDNCrS 228 Appendix A. Measurement of Branching Ratios for the 20 130 142n' Progression . ... .... ... .... .. 230 Appendix B. Listing of Program Density Matrix Computer Solution Program . ...... ....... ...... 245 Appendix C. Reprint of "Influence of collisions on coherent IR multiphoton absorption in thiophosgene" . ... 253 Appendix D. Reprint of "Photophysics of infrared multiphoton excitation in thiophosgene . ... ... 256 6 Acknowl edgements My first thanks go to my advisor, Jeff Steinfeld, who decided that I would be less of a menace to MIT by doing my experimental work at Brookhaven. Doug Brenner deserves special acknowledgement: He drilled in me the importance of not making mistakes---three diffusion pumps later, I believe I have finally achieved perfection. If the southern California sun doesn't mellow Doug out I suggest phenobarbitol. To the other members of my committee: Robert W. Field once told me that, contrary to popular belief, he would be impressed with a solid piece of spectroscopic work done on a molecule having more than two atoms--Sorry, Bob. I recommend that Professor Field attempt to break the Soviet endurance record for orbiting the earth in a space station. Bob Silbey deserves much credit for my development as a scientist. Perhaps after reading this thesis, he will relieve himself of his duties on the admissions committee. I must express my gratitude to certain senior members of the Steinfeld group: My eternal thanks to Chris Reiser for his electronics expertise, for his computer know-how and for his careless leaving behind of 5.76 problem sets. To Craig Jensen for leaving me a drug store when he left me his desk. And to Melissa Charron for showing us all how to be child-like without being childish. Maybe this Christmas Santa will bring her a puppy. Of my peers: Since I've known Joseph Salvadore Francisco I can honestly say that some of my best friends are black. Techniques that Joe taught me at MIT will prove to be indispensable at Columbia and throughout my entire life. He even knows a little science. I wish Dave 7 Harradine much financial success in his future; sex change operations are very expensive. Eric Schweitzer is one person I believe who would benefit immensely from hallucinogenic drugs. Bobbi Roop will always be remembered for her fascinating group seminars. Perhaps a quaalude in her beer would help her delivery. Since I've met Leo Laux, I've learned that you can't judge a person by his name. (Could his middle name be Bagelan?) Unabashed thanks goes to Neil Shinn, Dave Reisner, Precila Ip, Daisy Chawla, Amit Sinha, Dan Imre, Don Kormos, Pierre Tutundjian, James Mack, and any other nationality I have left out. Most of the ideas expressed in the discussion are the result of long and fruitful discussions with Hal Galbraith and Jay Ackerhalt of Los Alamos National Laboratory and I owe them an eternal debt. - When not doing theory, Hal is tinkering in his woodworking shop. I suspect that when this thesis is published, he will be tinkering full time. Thanks also go to the theoretical team of Goodman, Stone and Thiele for their unique insights. Where else, but in southern California, can one find a biologist, a chemist trained by John Ross and an anarchist doing theory together? I am especially in debt - spiritually and financially - to Vera Spanos for typing this manuscript and for putting up with my many missed deadlines. Any mistakes you find in this thesis are Vera's fault - not mine. None of the experiments described in this thesis could have been done without the work of the support staffs of Brookhaven and MIT. Their contribution to my research has been immeasurable and they must, therefore, share the blame for it. 8 Thanks to Ken Lew and Tom Fox of Children's Hopsital Medical Center who gave me the best career opportunity of my life when they offered to write a recommendation for me to medical school. And, lastly, special thanks to my parents who wisely persuaded me not to become a bricklayer. 9 I. INTRODUCTION The invention of the laser two decades ago has changed the direction of research in the physical sciences and created a new field of science--nonlinear optics. At the heart of the theory behind this new discipline is the ability of matter to absorb or emit radiation from an electromagnetic field through higher powers in the electric field. In mathematical language: p* + = 00 X(n)En n=1 in which P is the polarization of the medium interacting with radiation, E is the electric field and x(n) is the complex susceptibility of the material. In general, as n increases the contribution that x(n) makes to the overall absorption or emission of radiation decreases rapidly. In fact, only through the use of the laser can the scientist obtain the field intensity needed to observe nonlinear effects (n>1) of most systems. Among the various nonlinear effects that have been observed are: stimulated Raman scattering1 , coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering 2 , self-induced transparency3' 4 , superradiance 2 ,5 , and multiphoton transitions2' 5. It is the last of these phenomena to which this thesis is addressed. To be more specific, I shall describe the experiments and calculations that were done by Steinfeld, Brenner and me to unravel the dynamics of multiphoton absorption in the infrared regime by thiophosgene molecules. Although the theory behind all multiphoton processes is derived from one source--the time-dependent Schrddinger equation--certain features of infrared multiphoton absorption (IRMPA) make it amenable to a mathematical treatment that is distinct from multiphoton absorption 10 in other frequency regimes.