High-resolution spectroscopy of buffer-gas-cooled phthalocyanine

Abstract

For over five decades, studies in the field of chemical physics and physical chemistry have primarily aimed to understand the quantum properties of molecules. However, high-resolution rovibronic spectroscopy has been limited to relatively small and simple systems because translationally and rotationally cold samples have not been prepared in sufficiently large quantities for large and complex systems. In this study, we present high-resolution rovibronic spectroscopy results for large gas-phase molecules, namely, free-base phthalocya-nine (FBPc). The findings suggest that buffer-gas cooling may be effective for large molecules introduced via laser ablation. High-resolution electronic spectroscopy, combined with other experimental and theoretical studies, will be useful in understanding the quantum properties of molecules. These findings also serve as a guide for quantum chemical calculations of large molecules.

High-resolution molecular spectroscopy provides invaluable insight into the quantum properties of molecules, but high-resolution rovibronic spectroscopy has largely been limited to relatively small systems owing to the difficulty in preparing translationally and rotationally cold samples for large and complex systems. Here, the authors demonstrate that buffer-gas cooling may be an effective strategy to obtain high-resolution rovibronic spectroscopy results for large gas-phase molecules.