Two-dimensional femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy: Observation of cascading Raman signals in acetonitrile.

A new methodology for two-dimensional Raman spectroscopy-termed two-dimensional femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (2D-FSRS)-is presented and experimental results for acetonitrile are discussed. 2D-FSRS can potentially observe molecular anharmonicity by measuring the modulation of the frequency of a probed Raman mode, at frequency omega(hi), by the coherent motion of an impulsively driven mode, at frequency omega(low). In acetonitrile, the signal is generated by driving the CCN bend (379 cm(-1)) and CC stretch (920 cm(-1)) into coherence via impulsive stimulated Raman scattering and subsequently probing the stimulated Raman spectrum of the CC stretch, the CN stretch (2250 cm(-1)) and the CH stretch (2942 cm(-1)). The resultant signal can be generated by two alternative mechanisms: a fifth-order Raman process that would directly probe anharmonic coupling between the two modes, or a third-order cascade in which a third-order coherent Raman process produces a field that goes on to participate in a third-order stimulated Raman transition. The third-order cascade is shown to dominate the 2D-FSRS spectrum as determined by comparison with the predicted magnitude of the two signals, the 2D spectrum of a mixed isotope experiment, and the concentration dependence of the signal. In acetonitrile, theoretical calculations of the vibrational anharmonicity indicate that the third-order cascade signal should be 10(4) times larger than the fifth-order Raman signal. 2D-FSRS signals are observed between acetonitrile's CCN bend, of E symmetry, and several different A(1) modes but are forbidden by symmetry in the fifth-order pathway. A 2D-FSRS spectrum of a 50:50 mixture of acetonitrile and d(3)-acetonitrile shows equivalent intensity for intramolecular coupling peaks and intermolecular coupling peaks, indicating that the observed signal cannot be probing molecular anharmonicity. Finally, the magnitudes of the 2D-FSRS peaks are observed to be proportional to the square of the number density, supporting the cascade mechanism.