Abstract

We wish to point out an adaptation of equipment available in many chemical laboratories to obtain variable low-temperature electronic spectra. Specifically, a simple cooled-gas cryostat, similar in design to those available with a number of commercial elecron spin resonance spectrometers or suggested for use in low-temperature x-ray crystallography, can easily be adapted for use in electronic spectroscopy. A particular advantage of these systems is the ease with which chemical treatment or sample changing can be affected. For our purposes, we have adapted the cell compartment of a Cary-14 spectrophotometer to accept a variable-temperature accessory constructed by Varian Associates for use with an E-4 electron spin resonance spectrometer (Fig. 1). Standard quartz ESR tubes (4 mm o.d.) were used as sample cells. An O-ring adaptor can be used to allow sample degassing. A sample compartment cover (16 cm by 17 cm by 21 cm) was constructed of wood to allow additional head space in the cell compartment. For our particular purposes, an additional port was drilled in the outer wall to allow photolysis at low temperatures. In the absence of a comparable commercial cryostat, one can be constructed utilizing plans in the literature.

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William J. Taylor, A. Lee Smith, and Herrick L. Johnston
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 41(2) 91-93 (1951)

Two Simple Cryostats for Low Temperature Fluorescence and Absorption Spectroscopy

W. C. Neely and T. A. Zurek
Appl. Opt. 5(8) 1333-1334 (1966)

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Robert B. Holden, William J. Taylor, and Herrick L. Johnston
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 40(11) 757-760 (1950)

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J. Pelzl, K. Klein, and O. Nordhaus
Appl. Opt. 21(1) 94-99 (1982)

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J. G. Koren, J. S. Brinen, and R. C. Hirt
Appl. Opt. 3(12) 1431-1433 (1964)