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 di®erent time scales, are present. In particular, the optical Kerr e®ect performed with ultra-short laser pulses and heterodyne detection enables a unique investigation of the dynamic processes taking place in molecular liquids of di®erent natures. We present here an improved experimental set-up that enables to measure the fast vibrational dynamics 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.