Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Probing the Structure and Dynamics of Interfacial Water with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy
Published on: May 27, 2018
Communication: Feshbach resonances in the water molecule revealed by state-selective spectroscopy
Maxim Grechko1, Pavlo Maksyutenko, Thomas R Rizzo
1Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Moléculaire, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
We employ triple-resonance vibrational overtone excitation to access quasibound states of water from several fully characterized bound states of the molecule. Comparison of the measured dissociation spectra allows a rigorous assignment of rotational quantum numbers J, nuclear spin and parity, and a tentative vibrational characterization of the observed resonances. Their asymmetrical shapes (Fano profiles) reflect interference of dipole moments for transitions to these resonances with that to the dissociative continuum. The assignments and Fano profile parameters of the resonances stand as a benchmark for the extension of accurate quantum-mechanical calculations to activated complexes of water. The narrow widths of some of these resonances indicate that water molecules may survive for as long as up to 60 ps in states above the dissociation threshold. We consider the possible implication of such long-lived states for the kinetics of water dissociation and the OH+H association reaction.
Related Concept Videos
Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Molecular Electronic Transitions
IR Spectroscopy: Molecular Vibration Overview
Stretching vibrations are vibrational motions that occur along the bond line, changing the bond length or distance between two bonded atoms. They are further distinguished as symmetric or asymmetric. In symmetric stretching, the...
Atomic Spectroscopy: Absorption, Emission, and Fluorescence
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Woodward–Fieser Rules
IR Spectrum Peak Broadening: Hydrogen Bonding
However, the extent of hydrogen bonding influences the observed stretching frequency and band broadening. Intermolecular or intramolecular hydrogen bonding...

