Phase-Resolved Heterodyne-Detected Transient Grating Enhances the Capabilities of 2D IR Echo Spectroscopy

2D IR echo spectroscopy, with high sensitivity and femtosecond time resolution, enables us to understand structure and ultrafast dynamics of molecular systems. Application of this experimental technique on weakly absorbing samples, however, had been limited by the precise and unambiguous phase determination of the echo signals. In this study, we propose a new experimental scheme that significantly increases the phase stability of the involved IR pulses. We have demonstrated that the incorporation of phase-resolved heterodyne-detected transient grating (PR-HDTG) spectroscopy greatly enhances the capabilities of 2D IR spectroscopy. The new experimental scheme has been used to obtain 2D IR spectra on weakly absorbing azide ions (N₃^-) in H₂O (absorbance ∼0.025), free of phase ambiguity even at large waiting times. We report the estimated spectral diffusion time scale (1.056 ps) of azide ions in aqueous solution from the 2D IR spectra and the vibrational lifetime (750 ± 3 fs) and the reorientation time (1108 ± 24 fs) from the PR-HDTG spectra.