Fully automated dual-frequency three-pulse-echo 2DIR spectrometer accessing spectral range from 800 to 4000 wavenumbers.

A novel dual-frequency two-dimensional infrared instrument is designed and built that permits three-pulse heterodyned echo measurements of any cross-peak within a spectral range from 800 to 4000 cm(-1) to be performed in a fully automated fashion. The superior sensitivity of the instrument is achieved by a combination of spectral interferometry, phase cycling, and closed-loop phase stabilization accurate to similar to 70 as. The anharmonicity of smaller than 10(-4) cm(-1) was recorded for strong carbonyl stretching modes using 800 laser shot accumulations. The novel design of the phase stabilization scheme permits tuning polarizations of the mid-infrared ( m-IR) pulses, thus supporting measurements of the angles between vibrational transition dipoles. The automatic frequency tuning is achieved by implementing beam direction stabilization schemes for each m-IR beam, providing better than 50 mu rad beam stability, and novel scheme for setting the phase-matching geometry for the m-IR beams at the sample. The errors in the cross-peak amplitudes associated with imperfect phase matching conditions and alignment are found to be at the level of 20%. The instrument can be used by non-specialists in ultrafast spectroscopy. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.