Within the host matrix, the rotation and translation of the guest particle is usually inhibited. Therefore, the matrix isolation technique may be used to simulate a spectrum of a species in the gas phase without rotational and translational interference. The low temperatures also help to produce simpler spectra, since only the lower electronic and vibrational quantum states are populated.
Especially infrared (IR) spectroscopy, which is used to investigate molecular vibration, benefits from the matrix isolation technique. For example, in the gas-phase IR spectrum of fluoroethane some spectral regions are very difficult to interpret, as vibrational quantum states heavily overlap with multiple rotational-vibrational quantum states. When fluoroethane is isolated in argon or neon matrices at low temperatures, the rotation of the fluoroethane molecule is inhibited. Because rotational-vibrational quantum states are quenched in the matrix isolation IR spectrum of fluoroethane, all vibrational quantum states can be identified. This is especially useful for the validation of simulated infrared spectra that can be obtained from computational chemistry.