Nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy of water structures utilizing laser-induced phase transition phenomena in liquid water

Anomalous enhancement of the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of water molecules in the OH stretching vibrational region is observed when a laser-induced phase transition from liquid to plasma takes place in liquid water. The SRS is emitted before the phase transition and has a duration of several tens of picoseconds full width at half maximum. From the spectroscopic analysis of the SRS, it is suggested that the excess electrons, which are generated in a few picoseconds before the phase transition, play an important role in the transient SRS enhancement through the change of the nonlinear polarizability induced around the electrons in liquid water. Several applications of the enhanced vibrational spectra in the OH stretching vibrational region to the spectroscopic analyses of local water structures in various environments are also described.