Commissioning of a multipass discharge cell for the study of transient molecules of astrophysical interest using the far-IR beamline at the Canadian Light Source
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Date
2017
Authors
Bell, Aimee
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Abstract
The main objective of this project was to build, install and test a new direct current discharge multipass gas cell for the Far-Infrared Beamline at the Canadian Light Source (CLS). This cell was designed to generate transient molecules of astrophysical interest and was successfully used to collect high resolution rovibrational spectra of these species in the mid- and far-infrared regions (300 to 6000 cm-1). The first tests involved a study of the discharge spectrum of CS2, a precursor for the formation of astrophysically relevant chain molecules. The spectrum of CS2 discharge showed at least six unique product species and the discharge conditions were optimized for the detection of transient molecules. These first experiments demonstrate that the objective of this project were met and it is now possible to investigate transient molecules at the CLS. Future work will involve the optimization of the production of longer chain molecules so that their far-infrared spectra can be observed for the first time.
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Keywords
Molecular spectroscopy, Synchrotron, Discharge cell, Transient molecules, Physical chemistry, High resolution, Far-infrared