Applications of Infrared Fluorescence

Abstract

Abstract There have been a number of recent reviews dealing with various aspects of laser excited IR fluorescence [1–4]. The rapidly developing interest in this field has arisen in part from the realization of the importance of experimental information regarding the intermolecular forces and collision mechanisms which govern the interactions between molecules. Without these data, the various theoretical treatments of molecular relaxation and energy transfer cannot be tested in a meaningful fashion. The need of the laser physicist for fundamental energy transfer data in molecular systems has added impetus to the rapid expansion of this field. The parallel development of IR laser systems, both discrete frequency and tunable, together with advances in instrumentation in the IR region has also contributed to the development of IR fluorescence. Interest in the theoretical aspects of energy transfer is also increasing. Calculations of energy transfer cross-sections are, however, still hampered by the complexity...