In this project in the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Muenter will study the radio frequency, microwave and infrared spectroscopy of weakly bound clusters. The study will lead to a better understanding of the intermolecular forces which play a role in many aspects of chemistry such as molecular conformations, solvent-solute interactions and transport properties. Minima of the intermolecular potential energy surfaces of cluster molecules will be determined by using high-resolution spectroscopy. Vibrational frequency shifts will provide the change in complex stability when a monomer mode is excited, while Stark effect measurements will provide a quantitative measure of mutual polarization of molecular charge distributions. The project will obtain radio frequency and microwave results from molecular beam resonance data.
