Infrared Band Strengths of H 2 O Ices at 10–150 K─First Results with Microbalance Densities

Band strengths were measured for the infrared stretching region of amorphous and crystalline H 2 O ices from 10 to 150 K with particular and greater attention to multiple measurements and Beer’s Law calibration curves than found in the literature. Two-laser interferometry and microbalance gravimetry were used to determine the needed ice refractive indices and densities, respectively, for intensity measurements. Band strengths were comparable to earlier work using different methods and assumptions, but the lack of details and calibration curves in nearly all previous studies hinders both their reproducibility and quantitative comparisons. Applications are described for the new results and suggestions are made to avoid problems identified in the literature and to raise the value and confidence in published work.