ABSTRACT
A novel experimental approach is described for the characterisation of fission product vapours over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The combined techniques of matrix isolation-infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry are used to establish the identities of typical high temperature vapour species, and their molecular shapes and fundamental vibration frequencies. The apparatus used for these studies is described, and some recent results on simulant fission product chemistry involving the elements Cs, Te, Sn, and In are presented. The relevance of this work to the thermodynamic modelling of such systems is also discussed.
