Founded in 1916, the Optical Society of America (OSA) was organized to increase and diffuse the knowledge of optics, pure and applied; to promote the common interests of investigators of optical problems, of designers and of users of optical apparatus of all kinds; and to encourage cooperation among them. The purposes of the Society are scientific, technical and educational.
The Optical Society of America brings together optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators, and business leaders. OSA's membership totals 15,500 individuals from over 95 countries. Approximately 47% of the Society's members reside outside the United States.
The shapes of the extreme wings of self-broadened CO2(lines have been investigated)in three spectral regions near 7000, 3800, and 2400 cm-1. Absorption measurements have been made on the high-wavenumber sides of band heads where much of the absorption by samples at a few atm is due to the extreme wings of strong lines whose centers occur below the band heads. New information has been obtained about the shapes of self-broadened CO2 lines as well as CO2 lines broadened by N2, O2, Ar, He, and H2. Beyond a few cm-1 from the line centers, all of the lines absorb less than Lorentz-shaped lines having the same half-widths. The deviation from the Lorentz shape decreases with increasing wavenumber, from one of the three spectral regions to the next. The absorption by the wings of H2- and He-broadened lines is particularly low, and the absorption decreases with increasing temperature at a rate faster than predicted by existing theories.
