Thermometry using oxygen magnetic rotation spectroscopy

Summary form only given. Magnetic rotation spectroscopy (MRS) is a powerful technique for detection of trace amounts of paramagnetic species, as has been demonstrated for NO and NO/sub 2/. This technique has previously been applied because of its selectivity not only to the type of species on which one can make sensitive measurements, but also to molecular transitions having a small angular momentum quantum. The latter characteristic is due to the dependence of the magnetic rotation signal on the Zeeman splitting of the sample. In our experiment, light from a diode laser propagates through a sample cell along the direction of an external static magnetic field produced by tightly wound solenoid. The electronic transitions investigated are from various rotational levels in the ground state of oxygen, to the excited state. These transitions occur near 762 nm. The region being probed is localized between two nearly crossed polarizers separated by 40 cm.