Study of the H2CO presssure lineshift using a millimeter-wave RAD spectrometer with a solid-state reference-frequency synthesizer

A 4-mm-wave RAD spectrometer with a solid-state reference-frequency synthesizer (a microwave synthesizer) is described. The use of a microwave synthesizer allows one to construct a compact, easily automatized system for control and measurement of the frequency of a radiation source and covers all basic needs of microwave spectroscopy in the 4-mm-wave band. The spectrometer was used for measuring the pressure lineshift and broadening of the H/sub 2/CO 1/sub 01/-O/sub 00/ line. The parameters obtained are equal to ..delta..nu/sub c/ = +4.8 +/- 0.3 MHz/tor for the line shift and ..delta gamma../sub y/ = 27 +/- 3 MHz/torr for line broadening. Some possible applications for the spectrometer are discussed.