Resolution Enhancement of Spectra*

A numerical method has been developed to correct high-resolution infrared spectra for the distortion introduced by the spectrometer. The method involves, first, an accurate determination of the spectrometer response function and, then, deconvolution by a point-successive over-relaxation procedure. The method is applied to portions of the Q branches N2O and CH4 near 3.3 μ. The spectra are observed at pressures below 1.0 torr with spectrometer response-function half-widths less than 0.02 cm−1. The deconvolved spectra show an improvement of resolution which approaches the limit set by the Doppler widths of the lines. Line separations measured from the deconvolved spectra are within 0.001 cm−1 of the calculated values. The reduction of line overlap in the deconvolved spectra considerably increases the number of lines whose positions may be accurately measured.