Improved mode assignment for molecular crystals through anisotropic terahertz spectroscopy

Rohit Singh, Deepu Koshy George, Jason B. Benedict, Timothy M. Korter, Andrea G. Markelz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the anisotropic terahertz response of oxalic acid and sucrose crystals in the 0.2-3.0 THz range using terahertz time domain spectroscopy on large, single crystals. We compare the observed anisotropic response with the response calculated using solid-state density functional theory and find good agreement in the orientation dependence and relative intensities of the crystal phonons. It was found that oxalic dihydrate can be reversibly converted to anhydrous by controlled relative humidity. In addition, oxalic acid was found to have a large birefringence with Δn = 0.3, suggesting the material may be useful for terahertz polarization manipulation. Sucrose has a smaller birefringence of Δn = 0.05, similar to that of x-cut quartz. The anisotropic measurements provide both mode separation and symmetry determination to more readily achieve mode assignment for the more complex sucrose spectrum.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)10359-10364
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry A
Volume116
Issue number42
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 25 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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