Citation | T. Oka has opened with remarkable success a number of new research areas which are now being pursued not only in his own laboratory but in many other laboratories throughout the world. One of these new areas was the study of rotational energy transfer by means of microwave techniques. In this work for the first time the detailed mechanism of rotational relaxation of most of the common gases was opened for investigation. Another new area was the development of laser double resonance experiments. Oka's work on NH3 was the first clear-cut observation of infrared microwave double resonance to be reported. He established this technique as a powerful method for studying weak transitions. Closely related to this work was the development of two-photon spectroscopy as a method for the precise determination of the rotational levels of excited vibrational states. In addition Dr. Oka has made extremely important contributions to astronomy based on his deep understanding of molecular energy levels and molecular processes. The discovery of the long chain cyanoacetylene molecules HC5N, HC7N and HC9N, accomplished by a team at Ottawa, is largely due to Oka's role in the creation of the team and in providing it with seminal ideas. |