HIGH PRECISION ROVIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY OF OH{sup +}
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)
- I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, D-50937 Köln (Germany)
The molecular ion OH{sup +} has long been known to be an important component of the interstellar medium. Its relative abundance can be used to indirectly measure cosmic ray ionization rates of hydrogen, and it is the first intermediate in the interstellar formation of water. To date, only a limited number of pure rotational transitions have been observed in the laboratory making it necessary to indirectly calculate rotational levels from high-precision rovibrational spectroscopy. We have remeasured 30 transitions in the fundamental band with MHz-level precision, in order to enable the prediction of a THz spectrum of OH{sup +}. The ions were produced in a water cooled discharge of O{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, and He, and the rovibrational transitions were measured with the technique Noise Immune Cavity Enhanced Optical Heterodyne Velocity Modulation Spectroscopy. These values have been included in a global fit of field free data to a {sup 3}Σ{sup −} linear molecule effective Hamiltonian to determine improved spectroscopic parameters which were used to predict the pure rotational transition frequencies.
- OSTI ID:
- 22521638
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 817, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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