The ultrafast inter- and intramolecular dynamics of liquid CBrCl3 are studi
ed with a femtosecond laser in a pump/probe optical Kerr experiment. The pr
ompt part of the observed Kerr signal is found to comprise not just electro
nic response but also coherent coupling. As reported in the literature, the
weak and delayed part of the signal is attributed to three kinds of interm
olecular dynamics: diffusive reorientation, polarizability distortion, and
molecular libration with decay times, respectively, of 2ps, 500fs, and 190f
s. Included in the delayed Kerr signal are long lasting oscillations which
are ascribed to quantum interference involving four normal vibrations of th
e molecule. By a careful fitting of both the time domain (Kerr) and frequen
cy domain (Raman) data with existing theories the four vibrations are ident
ified as v(2) = 422 cm(-1), v(3) = 246 cm(-1), v(5) = 295 cm(-1), and v(6)
= 191 cm(-1), with dephasing times, 1.1ps, 1.7ps, 1 ps, and 1 ps, respectiv
ely.