Formic acid aggregation in 2D supersonic expansions probed by FTIR imaging

C=O stretching vibrations of formic acid trimers are assigned on the basis of FTIR and Raman jet spectroscopy and further validated by an FTIR imaging study based on their aggregation behavior in supersonic expansions. The effect of shock waves on cluster formation and decomposition is probed by shifting them into the field of view of the focal plane array detector. A double slit nozzle is presented that merges two supersonic jets for a more localized study of such shock waves.