Born-Oppenheimer breakdown effects and hyperfine structure in the rotational spectra of SbF and SbCl

Pure rotational spectra have been measured for the ground electronic states of SbF and SbCl. The molecules were prepared by laser ablation of Sb metal in the presence of SF₆ or Cl₂, respectively. Their spectra were measured with a cavity pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Although both molecules have two unpaired electrons, they are subject to Hund’s coupling case (c), and have X₁0⁺ ground states. The spectra have been interpreted with the formalism of ¹Σ⁺ molecules. For both molecules spectra of several isotopomers have been measured in the ground and first excited vibrational states. Large hyperfine splittings attributable to both nuclear quadrupole coupling and nuclear spin-rotation coupling have been observed. A Dunham-type analysis has produced unusually large Born-Oppenheimer breakdown parameters, which are interpreted in terms of the electronic structures of the molecules.