Photochemical hole burning of trans-isobacteriochlorin in an n-octane matrix and resonance Raman spectroscopy of mass selected metal clusters in an argon matrix

The scientific findings that compose this dissertation are divided into two projects. The first deals with the excitation and photochemical hole burning spectroscopy of trans-isobacteriochlorin in an n-octane Shpol'skii matrix at ∼4.2 K. Principles governing photochemical hole burning spectroscopy will be introduced along with a fully detailed account of the redesigning and computer automation of the experimental apparatus. The excitation and photochemical hole burning spectra for trans-isobacteriochlorin in an n-octane matrix, along with the Stark effect spectra, will be presented and discussed.; The second project presents the resonance Raman spectroscopy of mass selected molybdenum dimer and trimer, aluminum dimer, and chromium timer isolated in argon matrices. For each metal cluster a Resonance Raman spectrum will be presented and discussed. The resonance Raman spectra of these small metal clusters will give insight into the nature of the chemical bonding of the metal molecule under study as well its geometry. A detailed description on the CCNY Metal Clusters Beam will be given in this section. Experimentation in these two distinct fields proved to be a daunting task that produced very interesting results.