Submillimeter Detection of the van der Waals Stretching Vibration of the Ar-CO Complex

With the Cologne submillimeter-wave supersonic jet spectrometer, we extended molecular jet spectroscopy with backward wave oscillators up to frequencies of about 600 GHz. For the first time, the van der Waals stretching vibration of the Ar-CO molecular complex was detected in direct absorption. We measured 13 ro-vibrational transitions (Kvstretch = 1 <-- 0, Ka = 0 <-- 0) in the frequency range from 528 to 600 GHz and additionally the two R(3) K doublet (Ka = 4 <-- 3) pure rotational transitions at 447 GHz with an accuracy of about 200 kHz. The ro-vibrational transitions were assigned and fitted within experimental accuracy to a simple Hamiltonian taking into account the Coriolis interaction between the stretching and bending states, i.e., between vstretch = 1, Ka = 0, and vbend = 1, Ka = 1. The intensity of the transitions in the van der Waals stretching mode was estimated to be a factor of 5-10 less than that in the bending mode of Ar-CO. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.