Optical Kerr Effect Measurements on Supercooled Water: the experimental perspective

The time-resolved spectroscopic investigations are particularly suitable for the measurement of relaxation patterns of complex liquids where several dynamic phenomena, taking place on different time scales, are present. In particular, the optical Kerr effect performed with ultra-short laser pulses and heterodyne detection enables a unique investigation of the dynamic processes taking place in molecular liquids of different natures. We present here an improved experimental set-up that enables to measure the fast vibrationald ynamics and the slow structural relaxation in a single spectrum characterized by low noise and wide dynamic range. We report one measurement of water dynamics in its supercooled phase