Ultraviolet absorption spectra of ammonia and deuterated ammonia in solid argon

Abstract

The matrix isolated spectrum of the 2100 Å system of ammonia is reexamined and extended to include the dependence of the absorption spectrum on the temperature of the matrix. Assuming that the observed spectra reflect the populations of the O + and O − vibrational levels in the ground electronic state, the observed temperature dependence of the spectrum of ammonia in argon are more satisfactorily explained for trapped ammonia molecules free to rotate but without nuclear spin interconversion.