INTRACAVITY LASER-ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY NEAR 9400 CM(-1) WITH A ND-GLASS LASER - APPLICATION TO (N2O)-N-14-O-16

A new compact and low-power-consuming cw intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy (ICLAS) spectrometer with a broad tunability near 1.06 mu m has been developed. This ICLAS spectrometer uses a thin plate of Nd :glass as the amplification medium and allows pumping by a laser diode . The absorption spectrum of nitrous oxide N-14(2) O-16 has been recor ded near 9400 cm(-1) with this new ICLAS apparatus. It reveals an extr emely weak absorption band centred at 9398.848 cm(-1). The correspondi ng upper term value, vibrational assignment and B-v rotational constan t, as well as the band intensity, are quantitatively discussed in the frame of the vibrational cluster model. The observed atmospheric spect rum in the region is assigned to (H2 O)-O-16 and discussed. (C) 1998 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.