ABSTRACT
We report precision measurements by Fourier transform spectroscopy of the vacuum wavenumber, line width, and relative signal strength of 928 lines in the Ar I spectrum. Wavelength in air and classification of the transition are supplied for each line. A comparison of our results with other precision measurements illustrates the sensitivity of Ar I wavelengths to conditions in the light source.
ABSTRACT
Laser fringes have long been used to establish the x axis in interferometric spectrometry, but solutions for the intensity axis have been less satisfactory. Now we are seeing the rapid commercial development of low-cost, medium-speed, sigma-delta analog-to-digital converters developed for stereo audio applications. A single chip provides two channels of 20-bit precision at 50 kHz, a significant improvement over many current systems of much greater cost and complexity. But while the laser works in the spatial domain, this converter operates strictly in the time domain; it cannot be triggered. I have developed a bridge between these two domains, the adaptive digital filter, which not only permits us to use this converter to obtain measurements at arbitrary times but as a bonus shows us how to move much of the complexity of an interferometric-control and data-acquisition system from hardware to software. For example, flexible fringe subdivision (to increase the free spectral range) is easily obtained with a simple and efficient algorithm, completely free of laser ghosts. Compensation for drive velocity variation is also possible, requiring only a modest increase in computer memory.
ABSTRACT
Ghosts in Fourier-transform spectrometry are important for three reasons: they can give rise to spurious coincidences of frequency differences in spectral analysis, distort the phase correction, and set a limit to the attainable signal-to-noise ratio. The various types of ghost, originating from amplitude modulation, phase modulation, and intermodulation, are described and discussed, together with some hardware and software artifacts. Recipes are given for identifying these features and, where possible, avoiding harmful effects from them.
ABSTRACT
A detector system incorporating the Reticon RL1024S photodiode array has been constructed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Aeronomy Laboratory as part of a double spectrograph to be used to study the Earth's atmosphere from ground-based and aircraft-based platforms. To determine accurately the abundances of atmospheric trace gases, this new system must be able to measure spectral absorptions as small as 0.02%. The detector, manufactured by EG&G Reticon, exhibits superior signal-to-noise characteristics at the light levels characteristic of scattered skylights, but interference in the passivating layer (a thin layer of SiO(2) that is deposited during the manufacture to protect the silicon active area from water vapor) causes major problems in achieving the required precision. The mechanism of the problems and the solution we have implemented are described in detail.
ABSTRACT
The vibration-rotation spectrum of HDO in the 2400-3300-cm(-1) region has been studied at 0.01-cm(-1) resolution with a Fourier transform spectrometer. Values of the ground state levels and levels in the (100) and (020) states have been determined from the data. The ground state levels are fitted to a Watson-type Ham-iltonian from which 17 rotational constants are obtained. Measurements of the strengths of over 1100 lines have been made using a nonlinear least-squares fitting technique, and 548 of these lines are analyzed to determine the band strengths, the coefficients of the F factors, and the Coriolis interaction parameters. The strengths of the A- and B-type (100) bands and the A- and B-type (020) bands are 53.2 +/- 0.9, 0.43 0.07, 6.00 +/- 0.54, and 2.75 +/-0.12 cm(-2) atm(-1) at 296 K, respectively.
