Abstract
THE use of infra-red absorption spectra as a means of investigating molecular structure has still to be extended to surface films. Until very recently, the possibilities of this extension seemed remote, since a monomolecular layer does not contain enough molecules per square centimetre to produce measurable absorption. Thus it is found experimentally that approximately 1019 molecules are required to produce appreciable absorption in a beam of 1 sq. cm. cross-section, whereas the number of molecules per square centimetre in a monomolecular layer is about 5 × 1014. With the production of polymolecular films close to 1,000 molecules thick, the possibility of detecting absorption still seemed slight, but technically feasible, if a method employing several reflections through such a film were employed.
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SUTHERLAND, G., TUTTE, W. Absorption of Polymolecular Films in the Infra-Red. Nature 144, 707 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144707b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144707b0
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