The infrared spectroscopy and photochemistry of NO3 trapped in solid neon

Abstract

NO(3) can be stabilized in solid neon either by codeposition at 4.3 K of a Ne:O(2) mixture with a Ne:NO mixture that has been passed through a microwave discharge or, in higher yield, by codeposition of a Ne:NO mixture with a Ne:O(2) mixture, followed by annealing of the deposit at approximately 7 K and exposure of the solid to near ultraviolet radiation. All of the previously reported bands of NO(3) between 700 and 3000 cm(-1) were observed, most with neon-matrix shifts of less than 2.5 cm(-1). The infrared spectra of eight isotopic species of NO(3) were obtained. The observed isotopic shifts demonstrate the occurrence of extensive mixing of ground-state levels of e(') symmetry and their strong vibronic interaction with the B (2)E(') state. Photodissociation of NO(3) by irradiation of the deposit at wavelengths longer than 520 nm leads to new absorptions near the fundamentals of NO and O(2) and other new absorptions at relatively low frequencies. These absorptions were depleted and NO(3) regenerated by subsequent near ultraviolet irradiation of the deposit, suggesting the stabilization of a weakly bound NO(O(2)) complex in solid neon.