Infrared optical constants of H2O ice, amorphous nitric acid solutions, and nitric acid hydrates

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Abstract
We determined the infrared optical constants of nitric acid trihydrate, nitric acid dihydrate, nitric acid monohydrate, and solid amorphous nitric acid solutions which crystallize to form these hydrates. We have also found the infrared optical constants of H2O ice. We measured the transmission of infrared light through thin films of varying thickness over the frequency range from about 7000 to 500 cm−1 at temperatures below 200 K. We developed a theory for the transmission of light through a substrate that has thin films on both sides. We used an iterative Kramers‐Kronig technique to determine the optical constants which gave the best match between measured transmission spectra and those calculated for a variety of films of different thickness. These optical constants should be useful for calculations of the infrared spectrum of polar stratospheric clouds.