Infrared-Molecular Beam Spectroscopy: the Study of Weakly Bound Molecular Complexes as a Probe of Potential Energy Surfaces and Molecular Dynamics

Infrared laser spectroscopy has become a powerful tool in the study of weakly bound molecular complexes. The molecular constants obtained from these spectra can be used to determine the "structure" of the complex, for systems where this is a meaningful concept, while, in complexes which undergo wide amplitude excursions from their equilibrium geometries, the spectroscopy is often sensitive to the details of the intermolecular potential energy surface. In many cases, these spectra are sensitive to both the internal dynamics of the complex and the vibrational predissociation dynamics that result from the excitation process.