A spherical top or a symmetric top? A photoacoustic titanium:sapphire ring laser spectrum of the sixth stretching vibrational overtone band system of 116SnH4

Abstract

A Doppler limited high resolution photoacoustic titanium:sapphire ring laser spectrum of the sixth stretching vibrational overtone band system of monoisotopic stannane, 116SnH4, has been measured in the wave-number region 11 970–12 130 cm−1. The spectrum has been rotationally analyzed both using a spherical top and a symmetric top model. The results obtained by both approaches are compared with each other. In addition, the degree of localization of the sixth stretching vibrational overtone of stannane is compared with that of the first and second stretching vibrational overtones. No perturbations due to the bending vibrations are found, which demonstrates the suitability of stannane as a model molecule for studying vibrational localization.