The dynamics of cesium atom motion above the copper(111) surface following electronic excitation with light was studied with femtosecond (10(-15) seconds) time resolution. Unusual changes in the surface electronic structure within 160 femtoseconds after excitation, observed by time-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy, are attributed to atomic motion in a copper-cesium bond-breaking process. Describing the change in energy of the cesium antibonding state with a simple classical model provides information on the mechanical forces acting on cesium atoms that are "turned on" by photoexcitation. Within 160 femtoseconds, the copper-cesium bond extends by 0.35 angstrom from its equilibrium value.

Chemical imaging in the field of vibrational spectroscopy is developing into a promising tool to complement digital histopathology. Applications include screening of biopsy tissue via automated recognition of tissue/cell type and disease state based on the chemical information from the spectrum. For integration into clinical practice, data acquisition needs to be speeded up to implement a rack based system where specimens are rapidly imaged to compete with current visible scanners where 100's of slides can be scanned overnight. Current Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) imaging with focal plane array (FPA) detectors are currently the state-of-the-art instrumentation for infrared absorption chemical imaging, however recent development in broadly tunable lasers in the mid-IR range is considered the most promising potential candidate for next generation microscopes. In this paper we test a prototype quantum cascade laser (QCL) based spectral imaging microscope with a focus on discrete frequency chemical imaging. We demonstrate how a protein chemical image of the amide I band (1655 cm(-1)) of a 2 × 2.4 cm(2) breast tissue microarray (TMA) containing over 200 cores can be measured in 9 min. This result indicates that applications requiring chemical images from a few key wavelengths would be ideally served by laser-based microscopes.

High-resolution infrared spectra of (CO2)3 formed in a slit jet supersonic expansion are obtained via direct absorption of a tunable diode laser in the ν3 asymmetric stretch region of CO2. Over 100 distinct transitions are recorded in the trimer spectrum, which can be modeled as a perpendicular band of a planar symmetric top with C3h symmetry and no observable tunneling splittings. Results from the spectroscopic fit indicate that the complex is vibrationally averaged planar, with a carbon–carbon atom separation of RCC=4.0376(2) Å. An analysis of the vibrational blue shift for (CO2)3 of 2.5755(2) cm−1 via a resonant dipole–dipole interaction model yields an angular orientation for each CO2 axis of β=33.8(5)° away from a line tangent to the vertex and parallel to the opposite side of the equilateral triangle connecting the centers of mass of each CO2 monomer. Several model CO2–CO2 interaction potentials are tested against the vibrationally averaged structural parameters for (CO2)3. In particular, the potential of Murthy et al. [Mol. Phys. 50, 531 (1983)] reproduces RCC for the complex, but similar to all potentials tested, does not accurately predict the angular orientation β of the monomers within the trimer. Lastly, spectral evidence and model predictions suggest that there is an asymmetric top isomer of the trimer that is energetically comparable to the observed cyclic isomer.