Rovibrational energy transfer in the 4nu(CH) manifold of acetylene, viewed by IR-UV double-resonance spectroscopy. 4. Collision-induced quasi-continuous background effects.

The 4nu(CH) rovibrational manifold around 12 700 cm(-1) in the electronic ground state, X, of acetylene (C2H2) is monitored by time-resolved infrared-ultraviolet double-resonance (IR-UV DR) spectroscopy. An IR laser pulse initially prepares rotational J states, associated with the "IR-bright" (nu1 + 3nu3) or (1 0 3 0 0)0 vibrational combination level, and subsequent collision-induced state-to-state energy transfer is probed by UV laser-induced fluorescence. Anharmonic, l-resonance, and Coriolis couplings affect the J states of interest, resulting in a congested rovibrational manifold that exhibits complex intramolecular dynamics. In preceding papers in this series, we have described three complementary forms of the IR-UV DR experiment (IR-scanned, UV-scanned, and kinetic) on collision-induced rovibrational satellites, comprising both regular even-DeltaJ features and unexpected odd-DeltaJ features. This paper examines an unusual collision-induced quasi-continuous background (CIQCB) effect that is apparently ubiquitous, accompanying regular even-DeltaJ rovibrational energy transfer and accounting for much of the observed collision-induced odd-DeltaJ satellite structure; certain IR-bright (1 0 3 0 0)0 rovibrational states (e.g., J = 12) are particularly prominent in this regard. We examine the mechanism of this CIQCB phenomenon in terms of a congested IR-dark rovibrational manifold that is populated by collisional transfer from the nearly isoenergetic IR-bright (1 0 3 0 0)0 submanifold.