15min:

E. A. VOLKERS, A. VREDENBORG, H. LINNARTZ, J. BULTHUIS, S. STOLTE, Laser Centre Vrije Universiteit, Department of Physical Chemistry, De Boelelaan 1083, NL 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; R. JOST, Laboratoire de Spectrometrie Physique, Universite Joseph Fourier de Grenoble, BP 87, 38402 Saint Martin d'Heres Cedex, France.

A spectroscopic setup designed for high resolution spectroscopy of jet cooled ^xO^yN^zO isotopologues is described with the aim to obtain high quality laboratory spectra for the study of the mass independent effect in this triatomic molecule. A special piezo valve allows operation at minimal gas consumption and time gated fluorescence spectroscopy is used as a highly sensitive detection technique. The performance of the setup is demonstrated on the first A²B₂ - X²A₁ rovibronic transitions of ¹⁵N¹⁶O₂ measured in a jet. The gas consumption is as low as 0.025 mg per cm^-1 spectral range. Special efforts have been made to extend applications to lower energies, using a LN₂ cooled germanium detector.

\noindent

[1] E.A. Volkers, A. Vredenborg, H. Linnartz, J. Bulthuis, S. Stolte, R. Jost, Chem. Phys. Lett., submitted (2004).