Ultrafast superheating and melting of bulk ice

Exploring surface properties and premelting in crystals

Crystal surfaces play a pivotal role in governing various significant processes, such as adsorption, nucleation, wetting, friction, and wear. A fundamental property that influences these processes is the surface free energy, γ. We have directly calculated γ(T) for low-index faces of Lennard-Jones (LJ), germanium, and silicon crystals along their sublimation lines using the computational cleavage technique. Our calculations agree well with experimental values for Si(111) and Ge(111), highlighting the accuracy of the method and models used. For LJ crystals, we identified a premelting onset at Tpm = 0.75Tm, marked by a sharp increase in atom mobility within the second outermost surface layer. Notably, Tpm closely aligned with the endpoint of the LJ melting line at negative pressures, Tend = 0.76Tm. We hypothesize that the emergence and coexistence of a liquid film atop the LJ crystal at Tpm < T < Tm correspond to the metastable melting line under negative pressures experienced by stretched crystal surfaces. Furthermore, our study of thin LJ crystal slabs reveals that premelting-induced failure leads to recrystallization below the homogeneous freezing limit, offering a promising avenue to explore crystal nucleation and growth at extremely deep supercoolings. Finally, no evidence of premelting was detected in the model crystals of Ge and Si, which is consistent with the experimental observations. Overall, our findings offer valuable insights into crystal surface phenomena at the atomic scale.

Melting domain size and recrystallization dynamics of ice revealed by time-resolved x-ray scattering

The phase transition between water and ice is ubiquitous and one of the most important phenomena in nature. Here, we performed time-resolved x-ray scattering experiments capturing the melting and recrystallization dynamics of ice. The ultrafast heating of ice I is induced by an IR laser pulse and probed with an intense x-ray pulse which provided us with direct structural information on different length scales. From the wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) patterns, the molten fraction, as well as the corresponding temperature at each delay, were determined. The small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) patterns, together with the information extracted from the WAXS analysis, provided the time-dependent change of the size and the number of liquid domains. The results show partial melting (~13%) and superheating of ice occurring at around 20 ns. After 100 ns, the average size of the liquid domains grows from about 2.5 nm to 4.5 nm by the coalescence of approximately six adjacent domains. Subsequently, we capture the recrystallization of the liquid domains, which occurs on microsecond timescales due to the cooling by heat dissipation and results to a decrease of the average liquid domain size.

Fluorescent molecular rotor probes nanosecond viscosity changes

Viscosity is a key property of liquids, but it is difficult to measure in short-lived, metastable samples due to the long measuring times required by conventional rheology. Here, we show how this problem can be solved by using fluorescent molecular rotors. The excited-state fluorescence decay rate of these molecules is sensitive to the viscosity of their local environment, and by combining pulsed laser excitation with time-resolved fluorescence detection, we can measure viscosities with a time resolution of a few ns. We demonstrate this by measuring in real time the viscosity change in glycerol induced by a nanosecond temperature jump. This new approach makes it possible to measure the viscosity of extremely short-lived states of matter.

Following the Crystallization of Amorphous Ice after Ultrafast Laser Heating

Using time-resolved wide-angle X-ray scattering, we investigated the early stages (10 μs–1 ms) of crystallization of supercooled water, obtained by the ultrafast heating of high- and low-density amorphous ice (HDA and LDA) up to a temperature T = 205 K ± 10 K. We have determined that the crystallizing phase is stacking disordered ice (I_sd), with a maximum cubicity of χ = 0.6, in agreement with predictions from molecular dynamics simulations at similar temperatures. However, we note that a growing small portion of hexagonal ice (I_h) was also observed, suggesting that within our timeframe, I_sd starts annealing into I_h. The onset of crystallization, in both amorphous ice, occurs at a similar temperature, but the observed final crystalline fraction in the LDA sample is considerably lower than that in the HDA sample. We attribute this discrepancy to the thickness difference between the two samples.

The microscopic mechanism of bulk melting of ice

We study the initial stages of homogeneous melting of a hexagonal ice crystal at coexistence and at moderate superheating. Our trajectory-based computer simulation approach provides a comprehensive picture of the events that lead to melting, from the initial accumulation of 5+7 defects, via the formation of L-D and interstitial-vacancy pairs, to the formation of a liquid nucleus. Of the different types of defects that we observe to be involved in melting, a particular kind of 5+7 type defect (type 5) plays a prominent role as it often forms prior to the formation of the initial liquid nucleus and close to the site where the nucleus forms. Hence, like other solids, ice homogeneously melts via the prior accumulation of defects.

Experimental observation of the liquid-liquid transition in bulk supercooled water under pressure

We prepared bulk samples of supercooled liquid water under pressure by isochoric heating of high-density amorphous ice to temperatures of 205 ± 10 kelvin, using an infrared femtosecond laser. Because the sample density is preserved during the ultrafast heating, we could estimate an initial internal pressure of 2.5 to 3.5 kilobar in the high-density liquid phase. After heating, the sample expanded rapidly, and we captured the resulting decompression process with femtosecond x-ray laser pulses at different pump-probe delay times. A discontinuous structural change occurred in which low-density liquid domains appeared and grew on time scales between 20 nanoseconds to 3 microseconds, whereas crystallization occurs on time scales of 3 to 50 microseconds. The dynamics of the two processes being separated by more than one order of magnitude provides support for a liquid-liquid transition in bulk supercooled water.

Reentrant melting and multiple occupancy crystals of bounded potentials: Simple theory and direct observation by molecular dynamics simulations

Aspects of the phase coexistence behavior of the generalized exponential model (GEM-m) and bounded versions of inverse power potentials based on theory and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation data are reported. The GEM-m potential is ϕ(r)=exp(-r^{m}), where r is the pair separation and m is an adjustable exponent. A simple analytic formula for the fluid-solid envelope of the Gaussian core model which takes account of the known low- and high-density limiting forms is proposed and shown to represent the simulation data well. The bounded inverse power (BIP) potential is ϕ(r)=1/(a^{q}+r^{q})^{n/q}, where a, n, and q are positive constants. The BIP potential multiple occupancy crystal or cluster crystals are predicted to form when q>2 and a>0, for n>3, which compares with the corresponding GEM-m condition of m>2. Reentrant melting should occur for the BIP potential when q≤2 and a>0. MD simulations in which the system was gradually compressed at constant temperature using the BIP potential produced cluster states in the parameter domain expected but it was not possible to establish conclusively whether a multiply occupied crystal or a cluster fluid had formed owing to assembly structural fluctuations. The random phase approximation reproduces very well the BIP MD energy per particle without any discontinuities at the phase boundaries. The Lindemann melting rule is shown analytically to give a more rapidly decaying reentrant melting curve boundary than the so-called melting indicator (MI) empirical melting criterion which has also been investigated in this study. The MI model gives a better match to the high-density phase boundary for small m and q values.

Icelike Vibrational Properties of Strong Hydrogen Bonds in Hydrated Lithium Nitrate

The hydrogen bond network accounts for many of the extraordinary physical properties of liquid water and ice. Its vibrational dynamics are quite complex in their entirety but can be accessed in detail by investigating small groups of only a few water molecules. Here, aqueous salt hydrates turned out to be an exceptional model system for water molecules arranged in well-defined geometrical structures that can be accessed by means of femtosecond spectroscopy of the OH stretching vibration. In this study, we find striking resemblance between the vibrational properties of three water molecules connected via strong hydrogen bonds in the trihydrate of LiNO₃ and those of ordinary ice I_h. As in ice, the vibrations of the hydrate water molecules show ultrafast excited state dynamics that are strongly accelerated when proceeding from deuterated to neat H₂O samples. The latter is analyzed by means of an additional relaxation channel that is due to Fermi resonance between the OH stretching vibration and the bend overtone accompanied by delocalization of the vibration over neighboring water molecules in the H₂O species. Moreover, in the hydrate and ice samples severe spectral broadening is examined when comparing fundamental and excited state absorption bands. Here, proton delocalization along the strong hydrogen bonds is given as a possible underlying mechanism.

Superheating and Homogeneous Melting Dynamics of Bulk Ice

Homogeneous melting of crystals is a complex multistep process involving the formation of transient states at temperatures considerably higher than the melting point. The nature and persistence of these metastable structures are intimately connected to the melting process, and a precise definition of the temporal boundaries of these phenomena is not yet available. We set up a specifically designed experiment to probe by transient infrared absorption spectroscopy the entire dynamics, ranging from tens of picoseconds to microseconds, of superheating and melting of an ice crystal. In spite of a large excess of energy provided, only about 30% of the micrometric crystal liquefies in the first 20-25 ns because of the long persistence of the superheated metastable phase that extends for more than 100 ns. This behavior is ascribed to the population of low-energy states that trap a large amount of energy, favoring the formation of a metastable, likely plastic, ice phase.

Computational Study on Homogeneous Melting of Benzene Phase I

Molecular-dynamics simulations are used for examining the microscopic details of the homogeneous melting of benzene phase I. The equilibrium melting temperatures of our model were initially determined using the direct-coexistence method. Homogeneous melting at a higher temperature is achieved by heating a defect- and surfacefree crystal. The temperature-dependent potential energy and lattice parameters do not indicate a premelting phase even under superheated conditions. Further, statistical analyses using induction times computed from 200 melting trajectories were conducted, denoting that the homogeneous melting of benzene occurs stochastically, and that there is no intermediate transient state between the crystal and liquid phases. Additionally, the critical nucleus size is estimated using the seeding approach, along with the local bond order parameter. We found that the large diffusive motion arising from defect migration or neighbor-molecule swapping is of little importance during nucleation. Instead, the orientational disorder activated using the flipping motion of the benzene plane results in the melting nucleus.

Slow thermal equilibration in methylammonium lead iodide revealed by transient mid-infrared spectroscopy

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites are emerging semiconductors for cheap and efficient photovoltaics and light-emitting devices. Different from conventional inorganic semiconductors, hybrid perovskites consist of coexisting organic and inorganic sub-lattices, which present disparate atomic masses and bond strengths. The nanoscopic interpenetration of these disparate components, which lack strong electronic and vibrational coupling, presents fundamental challenges to the understanding of charge and heat dissipation. Here we study phonon population and equilibration processes in methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) by transiently probing the vibrational modes of the organic sub-lattice following above-bandgap optical excitation. We observe inter-sub-lattice thermal equilibration on timescales ranging from hundreds of picoseconds to a couple of nanoseconds. As supported by a two-temperature model based on first-principles calculations, the slow thermal equilibration is attributable to the sequential phonon populations of the inorganic and organic sub-lattices, respectively. The observed long-lasting thermal non-equilibrium offers insights into thermal transport and heat management of the emergent hybrid material class.

Dynamics and unsteady morphologies at ice interfaces driven by D2O-H2O exchange

The growth dynamics of D2O ice in liquid H2O in a microfluidic device were investigated between the melting points of D2O ice (3.8 °C) and H2O ice (0 °C). As the temperature was decreased at rates between 0.002 °C/s and 0.1 °C/s, the ice front advanced but retreated immediately upon cessation of cooling, regardless of the temperature. This is a consequence of the competition between diffusion of H2O into the D2O ice, which favors melting of the interface, and the driving force for growth supplied by cooling. Raman microscopy tracked H/D exchange across the solid H2O-solid D2O interface, with diffusion coefficients consistent with transport of intact H2O molecules at the D2O ice interface. At fixed temperatures below 3 °C, the D2O ice front melted continuously, but at temperatures near 0 °C a scalloped interface morphology appeared with convex and concave sections that cycled between growth and retreat. This behavior, not observed for D2O ice in contact with D2O liquid or H2O ice in contact with H2O liquid, reflects a complex set of cooperative phenomena, including H/D exchange across the solid-liquid interface, latent heat exchange, local thermal gradients, and the Gibbs-Thomson effect on the melting points of the convex and concave features.

Melting dynamics of ice in the mesoscopic regime

How does a crystal melt? How long does it take for melt nuclei to grow? The melting mechanisms have been addressed by several theoretical and experimental works, covering a subnanosecond time window with sample sizes of tens of nanometers and thus suitable to determine the onset of the process but unable to unveil the following dynamics. On the other hand, macroscopic observations of phase transitions, with millisecond or longer time resolution, account for processes occurring at surfaces and time limited by thermal contact with the environment. Here, we fill the gap between these two extremes, investigating the melting of ice in the entire mesoscopic regime. A bulk ice I _h or ice VI sample is homogeneously heated by a picosecond infrared pulse, which delivers all of the energy necessary for complete melting. The evolution of melt/ice interfaces thereafter is monitored by Mie scattering with nanosecond resolution, for all of the time needed for the sample to reequilibrate. The growth of the liquid domains, over distances of micrometers, takes hundreds of nanoseconds, a time orders of magnitude larger than expected from simple H-bond dynamics.

Open System Tribology and Influence of Weather Condition

The tribology of an open system at temperatures ranging between 3 °C and -35 °C, with and without snow, was investigated using a pin-on-disc tribometer mounted in a temperature-controlled environmental chamber. The relationship between the microstructure and ductility of the materials and the tribology at the contacting surfaces was investigated. The study shows that during continuous sliding, pressure causes snow particles to melt into a liquid-like layer, encouraging the generation of oxide flakes on the contact path. The friction coefficient and wear rate are dramatically reduced through an oxidative friction and wear mechanism. In the absence of snow, the tribological process is controlled by the low temperature brittleness of steel in the temperature range from 3 °C to -15 °C. At these temperatures, cracks are prone to form and extend on the worn surfaces, resulting in the spalling of bulk scraps, which are crushed into debris that increases the friction coefficient and wear rate due to strong abrasion. When the temperature falls to -25 °C, an ice layer condenses on the metal surfaces and relaxes the tribological process in the same way as the added snow particles, which significantly decreases the friction and wear.

Ultrafast Metamorphosis of a Complex Charge-Density Wave

Modulated phases, commensurate or incommensurate with the host crystal lattice, are ubiquitous in solids. The transition between such phases involves formation and rearrangement of domain walls and is generally slow. Using ultrafast electron diffraction, we directly record the photoinduced transformation between a nearly commensurate and an incommensurate charge-density-wave phase in 1T-TaS(2). The transformation takes place on the picosecond time scale, orders of magnitude faster than previously observed for commensurate-to-incommensurate transitions. The transition speed and mechanism can be linked to the peculiar nanoscale structure of the photoexcited nearly commensurate phase.

Highly Selective Relaxation of the OH Stretching Overtones in Isolated HDO Molecules Observed by Infrared Pump-Repump-Probe Spectroscopy

A quantitative investigation of the relaxation dynamics of higher-lying vibrational states is afforded by a novel method of infrared pump-repump-probe spectroscopy. The technique is used to study the dynamics of OH stretching overtones in NaClO4·HDO monohydrate. We observe a continuous decrease of the energy separation for the first four states, i.e. v01 = 3575 cm(-1), v12 = 3370 cm(-1), and v23 = 3170 cm(-1), respectively. The population lifetime of the first excited state is 7.2 ps, while the one of the second excited state is largely reduced to 1.4 ps. The relaxation of the v = 2 state proceeds nearly quantitatively to the v = 1 state. The new information on the OH stretching overtones demands improved theoretical potentials and modeling of the H bond interactions. This work shows the potential of the new technique for the precise study of complex vibrational relaxation pathways.

Onset of ice VII phase of liquid water: role of filamentation in stimulated Raman scattering

Energy dependent evolution of Stokes and anti-Stokes lines of ice VII via forward stimulated Raman scattering (FSRS) during propagation of a 30 ps laser pulse through liquid water, confirming structural change over GPa pressure range, is studied. Self-focusing of the intense laser pulses is observed to ionize the medium generating free electrons that dominate the evolution of SRS signals. The confinement of plasma-generated free electrons by filamentation is observed to enhance the signature Raman modes of ice VII by reducing the SRS threshold.

The accurate calculation of the band gap of liquid water by means of GW corrections applied to plane-wave density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations

Knowledge about the intrinsic electronic properties of water is imperative for understanding the behaviour of aqueous solutions that are used throughout biology, chemistry, physics, and industry.

Picosecond optical parametric generator and amplifier for large temperature-jump

An optical parametric generator and amplifier producing 15 ps pulses at wavelengths tunable around 2 μm, with energies up to 15 mJ/pulse, has been realized and characterized. The output wavelength is chosen to match a vibrational combination band of water. By measuring the induced birefringence changes we prove that a single pulse is able to completely melt samples of ice in the 10⁻⁶ cm³ volume range, both at room pressure (263 K) and at high pressure (298 K, 1 GPa) in a sapphire anvil cell. This source opens the possibility of studying melting and freezing processes by spectroscopic probes in water or water solutions in a wide range of conditions as found in natural environments.

Local-monomer calculations of the intramolecular IR spectra of the cage and prism isomers of HOD(D2O)5 and HOD and D2O ice Ih

Dilute mixtures of HOD in pure H2O and D2O ices and liquid have been used by experimentalists to focus on the spectrum and vibrational dynamics of the local OH and OD stretches and bend of HOD in these complex and highly heterogeneous environments. The hexamer version of the mixture is HOD(D2O)5. The cage isomer of this cluster was recently studied and analyzed theoretically using local-mode calculations of the IR spectrum by Skinner and co-workers. This and the further possibility of experimental investigation of this cluster have stimulated us to study HOD(D2O)5 using the three-mode, local-monomer model, with the ab initio WHBB dipole moment and potential energy surfaces. Both the cage and prism isomers of this cluster are considered. In addition to providing additional insight into the HOD portion of the spectrum, the spectral signatures of each D2O are also presented in the range of 1000-4000 cm(-1). The OH stretch bands of both the prism and cage isotopomers exhibit rich structures in the range of 3100-3700 cm(-1) that are indicative of the position of the HOD in these hexamers. A preliminary investigation of the site preference of the HOD is also reported for both cage and prism HOD(D2O)5 using an harmonic zero-point energy analysis of the entire cluster. This indicates that the energies of free-OH sites are lower than the ones of H-bonded OH sites. Finally, following our earlier work on the IR spectra of H2O ice models, we present IR spectra of pure D2O and HOD.

Spontaneous liquid-liquid phase separation of water

We report a molecular dynamics simulation demonstrating a fast spontaneous liquid-liquid phase separation of water and a subsequent slow crystallization to ice. It is found that supercooled water separates rapidly into low- and high-density domains so as to reduce the surface energy in the rectangular simulation cell at certain thermodynamic states. The liquid-liquid phase separation, which is about two orders of magnitude faster than the crystallization, suggests a possibility to observe this phenomenon experimentally.

A novel setup for femtosecond pump-repump-probe IR spectroscopy with few cycle CEP stable pulses

We present a three-color mid-IR setup for vibrational pump-repump-probe experiments with a temporal resolution well below 100 fs and a freely selectable spectral resolution of 20 to 360 cm(-1) for the pump and repump. The usable probe range without optical realignment is 900 cm(-1). The experimental design employed is greatly simplified compared to the widely used setups, highly robust and includes a novel means for generation of tunable few-cycle pulses with stable carrier-envelope phase. A Ti:sapphire pump system operating with 1 kHz and a modest 150 fs pulse duration supplies the total pump energy of just 0.6 mJ. The good signal-to-noise ratio of the setup allows the determination of spectrally resolved transient probe changes smaller than 6·10(-5) OD at 130 time delays in just 45 minutes. The performance of the spectrometer is demonstrated with transient IR spectra and decay curves of HDO molecules in lithium nitrate trihydrate and ice and a first all MIR pump-repump-probe measurement.

Hydrogen Bonding and OH-Stretch Spectroscopy in Water: Hexamer (Cage), Liquid Surface, Liquid, and Ice

We present a unified picture of how OH-stretch spectroscopy in water can be understood in terms of hydrogen bonding for the four systems listed in the title. To understand the strength, and hence OH-stretch frequency, of a hydrogen bond, it is crucial to consider the number of additional acceptor hydrogen bonds made by both the donor and acceptor molecules. This necessity for focusing on the hydrogen-bond environment of both donor and acceptor molecules follows from quantum chemical considerations and is related to the three-body interactions in water. Armed with this understanding we can make a detailed interpretation of the OH-stretch IR absorption spectrum of the cage conformer for HOD(D2O)5 and the imaginary part of the ssp OH-stretch sum-frequency spectrum of the surface of liquid D2O with dilute HOD.

Interpretation of IR and Raman line shapes for H2O and D2O ice Ih

Noticeable differences between the vibrational (IR and Raman) spectra of neat H(2)O and D(2)O ice Ih are observed experimentally. Here, we employ our theoretical mixed quantum/classical approach to investigate these differences. We find reasonable agreement between calculated and experimental line shapes at both high and low temperatures. From understanding the structure of ice Ih and its vibrational exciton Hamiltonian, we provide assignments of the IR and Raman spectral features for both H(2)O and D(2)O ice Ih. We find that in H(2)O ice these features are due to strong and weak intermolecular coupling, not to intramolecular coupling. The differences between H(2)O and D(2)O ice spectra are attributed to the significantly stronger intramolecular coupling in D(2)O ice. Our conclusion for both H(2)O and D(2)O ice is that the molecular symmetric and antisymmetric normal modes do not form a useful basis for understanding OH or OD stretch spectroscopy.

Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy of neat ice Ih

The OH stretch line shape of ice Ih exhibits distinct peaks, the assignment of which remains controversial. We address this longstanding question using two dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy of the OH stretch of H(2)O and the OD stretch of D(2)O of ice Ih at T = 80 K. The isotropic response is dominated by a 2D line shape component which does not depend on the pump pulse frequency. The decay time of the component that does depend on the pump frequency is calculated using singular value decomposition (bi-exponential decay H(2)O: 30 fs, 490 fs; D(2)O: 40 fs, 690 fs). The anisotropic contribution exhibits on-diagonal peaks, which decay on a very fast timescale (H(2)O: 85 fs; D(2)O: 65 fs), with no corresponding anisotropic cross-peaks. Both isotropic and anisotropic results indicate that randomization of excited dipoles occurs with a very rapid rate, just like in neat liquid water. We conclude that the underlying mechanism relates to the complex interplay between exciton migration and exciton-phonon coupling.

Interpretation of the water surface vibrational sum-frequency spectrum

We propose a novel interpretation of the water liquid-vapor interface vibrational sum-frequency (VSF) spectrum in terms of hydrogen-bonding classes. Unlike an absorption spectrum, the VSF signal can be considered as a sum of signed contributions from different hydrogen-bonded species in the sample. We show that the recently observed positive feature at low frequency, in the imaginary part of the signal, is a result of cancellation between the positive contributions from four-hydrogen-bonded molecules and negative contributions from those molecules with one or two broken hydrogen bonds. Spectral densities for each of these subgroups span the entire relevant spectral range. Three-body interactions within our newly developed E3B water simulation model prove to be critical in describing the proper balance between different hydrogen-bonded species, as (two-body) SPC/E, TIP4P, and TIP4P/2005 models fail to reproduce the positive feature. The results clarify the molecular origin of the VSF signal, and highlight the importance of many-body interactions for water in heterogeneous situations.

Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy of isotope-diluted ice Ih

We present experimental 2D IR spectra of isotope diluted ice Ih (i.e., the OH stretch mode of HOD in D(2)O and the OD stretch mode of HOD in H(2)O) at T = 80 K. The main spectral features are the extremely broad 1-2 excited state transition, much broader than the corresponding 0-1 groundstate transition, as well as the presence of quantum beats. We do not observe any inhomogeneous broadening that might be expected due to proton disorder in ice Ih. Complementary, we perform simulations in the framework of the Lippincott-Schroeder model, which qualitatively reproduce the experimental observations. We conclude that the origin of the observed line shape features is the coupling of the OH-vibrational coordinate with crystal phonons and explain the beatings as a coherent oscillation of the O···O hydrogen bond degree of freedom.

Infrared and Raman line shapes for ice Ih. II. H2O and D2O

We present a theoretical study of infrared and Raman line shapes of polycrystalline and single crystal ice Ih, for both water and heavy water, at 1, 125, and 245 K. Our calculations involve a mixed quantum/classical approach, a new water simulation model with explicit three-body interactions, transition frequency and dipole maps, and intramolecular and intermolecular vibrational coupling maps. Our theoretical spectra are in reasonable agreement with experimental spectra (available only near the two higher temperatures). We trace the origins of the different spectral peaks to weak and strong intermolecular couplings. We also discuss the delocalization of the vibrational eigenstates in terms of the competing effects of disorder and coupling.

Infrared and Raman line shapes for ice Ih. I. Dilute HOD in H(2)O and D(2)O

Vibrational spectroscopy of ice Ih provides information about structure, dynamics, and vibrational coupling in this important substance. Vibrational spectra are simplified for HOD in either H(2)O or D(2)O, as in these instances the OD or OH stretch, respectively, functions as a local chromophore. As a first step in providing a theoretical treatment of the vibrational spectroscopy for the fully coupled system (H(2)O or D(2)O), herein we calculate the infrared and Raman spectra for the isotopically substituted systems. The calculation involves a classical molecular dynamics simulation using a new water model, an initial proton-disordered ice configuration, and ab initio based transition frequency, dipole, and polarizability maps. Our theoretical results are in reasonable agreement with experiment, and from our results we provide molecular and physical interpretations for the spectral features.

Ultrafast conversions between hydrogen bonded structures in liquid water observed by femtosecond x-ray spectroscopy

We present the first femtosecond soft x-ray spectroscopy in liquids, enabling the observation of changes in hydrogen bond structures in water via core-hole excitation. The oxygen K-edge of vibrationally excited water is probed with femtosecond soft x-ray pulses, exploiting the relation between different water structures and distinct x-ray spectral features. After excitation of the intramolecular OH stretching vibration, characteristic x-ray absorption changes monitor the conversion of strongly hydrogen-bonded water structures to more disordered structures with weaker hydrogen-bonding described by a single subpicosecond time constant. The latter describes the thermalization time of vibrational excitations and defines the characteristic maximum rate with which nonequilibrium populations of more strongly hydrogen-bonded water structures convert to less-bonded ones. On short time scales, the relaxation of vibrational excitations leads to a transient high-pressure state and a transient absorption spectrum different from that of statically heated water.