VIBRATIONAL-RELAXATION OF OZONE IN O3-O2 AND O3-N2 GAS-MIXTURES FROM INFRARED DOUBLE-RESONANCE MEASUREMENTS

The vibrational relaxation of ozone in O3-O2 and O3-N2 mixtures has been studied by means of a time-resolved infrared double resonance technique using two CO2 lasers. The collisional deexcitation of the first excited states of the stretching modes including the V-V transfer processes to the bending mode has been directly observed allowing the rate constants to be measured as a function o the O3 mole fraction in the mixtures. Finally, the rate coefficients for the intermode transfer (nu-1, nu-3) --> nu-2 and for the deexcitation from the nu-2 state have been derived.