I moved to Vancouver, BC, Canada, in spring 1993 in order to work as a postdoc at the University of British Columbia. I worked in the group of Prof. Michael C. L. Gerry using microwave Fourier transform spectroscopy. The structural parameters of, e.g., SO₂ClF and FClO₃ have been determined. While six isotopomers of the former were studied in natural isotopic composition, a mixture of FCl¹⁶O₂¹⁸O and FCl¹⁶O₃ was synthesized for the latter study. In all of the studies, the analysis and interpretation of the hyperfine structure was of great interest for me. Examples are the determination of the complete ³⁵Cl quadrupole tensor for SOCl₂, and the investigation of the unusual ¹⁹F paramagnetic shielding in BrF, IF, and SF₂.

The SF₂ project was carried out together with Bethany Brupbacher-Gatehouse who is now at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zürich, Switzerland.

Publications related to work in Vancouver

1. H. S. P. Müller and M. C. L. Gerry,
   The Microwave Spectrum of Sulfuryl Chloride Fluoride, SO₂ClF: Hyperfine Constants, Structure, and Harmonic Force Field,
   J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 90 (1994) 2601 – 2610.
2. H. S. P. Müller and M. C. L. Gerry,
   Microwave Spectroscopic Investigation of Thionyl Chloride, SOCl₂: Hyperfine Constants and Harmonic Force Field,
   J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 90 (1994) 3473 – 3481.
3. F. Aubke, B. Casper, H. S. P. Müller, H. Oberhammer, and H. Willner,
   Vibrational Spectra and Gas Phase Structures of Fluorine Fluorosulfate (FOSO₂F) and Chlorine Fluorosulfate (ClOSO₂F),
   J. Mol. Struct. 346 (1995) 111 – 120.
4. H. S. P. Müller and M. C. L. Gerry,
   Hyperfine Constants of Bromine- and Iodine Monofluoride,
   J. Chem. Phys. 103 (1995) 577 – 583.
5. B. Gatehouse, H. S. P. Müller, N. Heineking, and M. C. L. Gerry,
   The Structure, Harmonic Force Field, and Hyperfine Coupling Constants of Nitrosyl Chloride,
   J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans. 91 (1995) 3347 – 3355.
6. H. S. P. Müller and M. C. L. Gerry,
   Microwave Fourier Transform Spectroscopy of Perchloryl Fluoride: ¹⁹F^35/37Cl¹⁶O₃ and ¹⁹F^35/37Cl¹⁶O₂¹⁸O,
   J. Mol. Spectrosc. 175 (1996) 120 – 132.
7. J. M. Colmont, G. Wlodarczak, D. Priem, H. S. P. Müller, E. H. Tien, R. J. Richards, and M. C. L. Gerry,
   Rotational Spectra of Selected Isotopic Species of Vinyl Cyanide, Quadrupole Hyperfine Structure, Molecular Structure,
   J. Mol. Spectrosc. 181 (1997) 330 – 344.
8. B. Gatehouse, H. S. P. Müller, and M. C. L. Gerry,
   ¹⁹F Spin-Rotation Constants and Shielding Tensor of Sulphur Difluoride from its Microwave Spectrum,
   J. Chem. Phys. 106 (1997) 6916 – 6922.
9. B. Gatehouse, H. S. P. Müller, and M. C. L. Gerry,
   Hyperfine Constants and Nuclear Shieldings from the Microwave Spectra of FBO, ClBO, and FBS,
   J. Mol. Spectrosc. 190 (1998) 157 – 167.