Studies of intermolecular vibrations in hydrogen-bonded molecular complexes for the gas phase using a synchrotron radiation source

An electron storage ring acts as an approximate point source in the far-infrared spectral region with a much greater intensity than provided by conventional black body radiators. Far-infrared synchrotron radiation is therefore suitable for high-resolution spectroscopic measurements of low-frequency vibrations for metastable molecules such as the intermolecular vibrational modes of hydrogen-bonded molecular complexes. The present paper describes the use of synchrotron radiation from the MAX-I electron storage ring, Lund, Sweden, for far-infrared measurements of several hydrogen-bonded molecular complexes in the gas phase.