Collisional narrowing of the vibrational Raman band of nitrogen and carbon monoxide

Authors:
  • AMA. D. May
    A. D. May
  • JSJ. C. Stryland
    J. C. Stryland
  • GVG. Varghese
    G. Varghese
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Abstract
Observations of the pressure narrowing of the vibrational Raman bands in N2 and CO are presented. For both gases a pressure of about 200 atm reduces the half-width of the bands by a factor 2. This behavior is explained in a semiquantitative way by the theory of motional narrowing. Motional narrowing occurs when the frequency of rotationally inelastic collisions reaches the magnitude of the frequency separation of the individual band components.