N2 and CO vibrational CARS and H2 rotational CARS spectroscopy of CH4/N2O flames

Broadband CARS spectra of N2 and CO have been obtained from the postflame gases of rich CH4/N2O flames using the nonplanar BOXCARS technique. The temperature and concentration of both N2 and CO in these flames were estimated from CARS spectra with the aid of model calculations and agreed with standard thermochemical predictions. In addition, several pure rotational H2 CARS transitions, certain of which had been previously unobserved, were seen in several spectral regions, most notably in both the CO and NO CARS regions. These observations are important in future modeling of CARS data.