Infrared spectroscopy of small size-selected water clusters

Infrared molecular beam depletion and fragment spectroscopy has been employed to study the absorption behavior of small water clusters [(H2O)(n), n = 2,3,4,5]. The spectral region between 3300 and 3800 cm(-1) was covered with an injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator Size-specific information has been obtained by dispersing the cluster beam with a secondary helium beam and measuring the depletion as a function of the scattering angle. Three absorption bands could be assigned to the water dimer (H2O)(2), with the bonded OH stretch being localized at 3601 cm(-1). For each of the larger water clusters (n = 3,4,5), which have cyclic structures, two absorption bands could be identified, one belonging to the free OH stretch and the other being due to the excitation of the OH ring vibration. The measurements on free water clusters were complemented by studies on small water complexes formed on large argon clusters. The positions of the absorption bands observed in these spectra are close to those found for (H2O)(n) in argon matrices. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.