High-resolution Fourier-transform study of the X2Π3/2 → X1Π1/2 fine structure transitions of PbH and PbD

Near-infrared emission spectra of the X₂²Π_3/2 → X₁²Π_1/2 fine structure transitions of PbH and PbD have been investigated by high-resolution Fourier-transform spectrometry. The fine structure splitting in the X²Π_r ground state of ²⁰⁸PbH was found to be 6924.4926(4) cm⁻¹. Accurate rotational constants for the v = 0 and 1 vibrational levels of the X²Π_r states of ²⁰⁸PbH, ²⁰⁷PbH, ²⁰⁸PbD and ²⁰⁷PbD and hyperfine structure constants for the X₁²Π_1/2 states of ²⁰⁷PbH (²⁰⁷PbD) have been derived.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of the vibrational spectra of CHD2Br

The dideuterated form of methyl bromide, CHD₂Br, has been synthesized and the gas-phase infrared spectra investigated in the range 400–10,000?cm^–1 using a medium-resolution FTIR spectrometer. The nine fundamental bands have been characterized in detail. Six of them, i.e. ν ₁, ν ₄, ν ₅, ν ₇, ν ₈ and ν ₉, have been rotationally analysed through the assignment of the partially resolved structure of the ^PQ_K and ^RQ_K cluster of lines and the spectroscopic parameters have been derived in the symmetric top limit approximation. Among the fundamental levels, anharmonic resonance occurs between ν ₇/ν ₄?+?ν ₈ and ν ₈/ν ₆?+?ν ₉. An isotopic ^79/81Br shift was found for ν ₆ and in the more complex region of the ν ₈ fundamental. High-quality ab initio calculations – carried out at coupled cluster level [CCSD(T)] employing the correlation-consistent basis set of Dunning (cc-pVTZ) – were performed to determine quadratic, cubic and quartic (semidiagonal) force constants. Using these constants and applying second-order vibrational perturbation theory (VPT2), with allowance for resonances (when necessary), permitted us to identify and assign, in addition to the fundamentals, about 70 overtones and combination bands up to three quanta.     

High-pressure theoretical and experimental study of HgWO4

HgWO₄ at ambient pressure is characterized using a combination of ab initio calculations, X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements. The effect of low pressure and temperature on the structural stability is analysed. Extending our ab initio study to the range of higher pressures, a sequence of stable phases up to 30 GPa is proposed.     

Near-infrared Fourier-transform and millimeterwave spectra of the BiS radical

This paper reports the 6400-7400 cm⁻¹ Fourier-transform (FT) near-infrared (NIR) emission spectrum of the BiS X₂²Π_3/2 → X₁²Π_1/2 fine structure bands as well as the millimeterwave rotational spectrum of the X₁²Π_1/2 state. For the FTNIR observations, BiS was produced by reaction of bismuth with sulfur vapor and excited by energy transfer from metastable oxygen, O₂(a¹Δ_g), in a fast-flow system. As was the case for BiO [O. Shestakov, R. Breidohr, H. Demes, K.D. Setzer, E.H. Fink, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 190 (1998) 28-77], the 0.5 cm⁻¹resolution spectrum revealed a number of strong bands in the Δv = 0 and ±1 sequences which showed perturbed band spacings, band shapes, and intensities due to avoided crossing of the X₂²Π_3/2 and A₁⁴Π_3/2 potential curves for v^′ ? 4 of X₂²Π_3/2. The millimeterwave rotational spectrum of BiS in its X₁²Π_1/2 state was observed when BiS was produced in a high-temperature oven by a discharge in a mixture of Bi vapor and CS₂. The signal to noise ratio was markedly improved by using a White-type multipath cell. Ninety seven features from J′ = 23.5 to J′ = 41.5 were measured between 150 and 300 GHz. Analysis of the 0.5 cm⁻¹ resolution FT spectrum yielded the fine structure splitting and vibrational constants of the states. A simultaneous analysis of millimeterwave and a 0.005 cm⁻¹ FT spectrum of the 0-0 band of the NIR system was carried out to give precise rotational, fine, and hyperfine constants for the X₁²Π_1/2 and X₂²Π_3/2 states. The results are consistent with those reported earlier for BiO and indicate only a slight decrease in the unpaired electron density in the 6p(π^∗) orbital on the Bi atom.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of electronic energy states of methyl benzoate derivatives

Spectroscopic steady state studies of four monosubstituted derivatives of methyl benzoate dissolved in methylcyclohexane (McH), tetrahydrofuran (THF), ethanol (EtOH) and isopentane-diethyl ether mixture (IP-DE) have been performed at 293 and 77 K. The determined electronic energy values and oscillator strengths are compared with those obtained from quantum chemical calculations. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical energy values is noted. The average value is smaller than 5 percent. A reasonable agreement is noted between intensities of separated bands and oscillator strength of corresponding transitions. The relative ratio of fluorescence to phosphorescence intensity I_fl/I_ph of ortho-substituted compounds dissolved in non-polar, polar and protic solvents is higher than that of the para-substituted derivatives of methyl benzoate. The spectroscopic studies show that methyl ortho-hydroxy benzoate in the excited state S₁ forms H-bonded dimers in the solvents used. At 77 K the dimer fluorescence dominates the phosphorescence emission. The long wavelength absorption band (C) of amino-substituted methyl benzoates consists of two transitions in agreement with our theoretical calculations and a suggestion made by Shabestary and El-Bayoumi [N. Shabestary, M.A. El-Bayoumi, Chem. Phys. Lett. 106 (1984) 107].     

MRCI study on spectroscopic and molecular properties of several low-lying electronic states of the CN radical

The potential energy curves (PECs) of eight low-lying electronic states (X²Σ⁺, A²Π, B²Σ⁺, a⁴Σ⁺, D²Π, E²Σ⁺, 1²Σ⁻ and F²Δ) of the CN radical have been studied using the ab initio quantum chemical method. The calculations have been performed using the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method followed by the valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach in combination with the correlation-consistent basis sets of Dunning and co-workers. The effects on the PECs by the core-valence correlation and relativistic corrections are taken into account. The way to consider the relativistic correction is to use the second-order Douglas-Kroll Hamiltonian approximation. The core-valence correlation correction calculations are performed with the cc-pCVQZ basis set. The relativistic correction is carried out at the level of cc-pV5Z basis set. In order to obtain more reliable results, the PECs determined by the MRCI calculations are also corrected for size-extensivity errors by means of the Davidson modification (MRCI+Q). The PECs are extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit by the total-energy extrapolation scheme. With these PECs, the spectroscopic parameters (T_e, R_e, ω_e, ω_ex_e, ω_eу_e, B_e, α_e and γ_e) are determined and compared with those reported in the literature. Finally, with the PECs obtained by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+Q5 calculations, the complete vibrational states are computed for the eight electronic states by solving the ro-vibrational Schrödinger equation for the non-rotating radical, and the vibrational levels and inertial rotation and centrifugal distortion constants of the first 11 vibrational states are reported, which agree favorably with the available experimental data. The spectroscopic parameters of 1²Σ⁻ and F²Δ electronic states obtained by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+Q5 calculations should be good predictions for future laboratory experiments.     

Experimental and theoretical investigation of vibrational spectra of copper phthalocyanine: polarized single‐crystal Raman spectra,isotope effect and DFT calculations

The IR‐ and Raman spectra of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), as well as the isotopic wavenumber shifts upon ¹⁵N substitution in CuPc, were investigated experimentally and theoretically. The symmetry of molecular vibrations was determined using polarized Raman spectra of an oriented CuPc single crystal. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used for the detailed assignment of different bands in the vibrational spectra of CuPc. Theoretically predicted geometry, wavenumbers and isotopic shifts are in a very good agreement with the experimental values. A comparison of experimentally obtained isotopic shifts with theoretical predictions allowed us to reveal some characteristic features of normal vibrations of CuPc molecule. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure of excited electronic states of Mg-chlorin and Mg-bacteriochlorin dimers

Within the framework of a procedure proposed previously for fragment-by-fragment quantum-chemical calculation of aggregates of molecules with π-electronic chromophore groups, account is taken of hyperconjugation, which allows practically exact reproduction of results obtained by the all-valence CNDO/S method. Calculations of excited electronic states of sandwichlike Mg-chlorin (Mg-Ch)₂ and Mg-bacteriochlorin (Mg-BCh)₂ dimers with variation of the interplanar distance between monomers are made. It is shown that on passing from a Mg-porphin dimer to the (Mg-Ch)₂ and (Mg-BCh)₂ dimers there is a considerable decrease in the energies of charge-transfer states, which are resonant in nature (CR-states). Moreover, (Mg-BCh)₂ has a considerably reduced energy interval between the lower CR-state and the forbidden component of the lower Q-state, which is indicative of easier charge separation in the lower excited electronic singlet states under the action of the field of the environment of tetrahydroporphyrin dimers than of dimers of porphyrins and hydroporphyrins, which can be of biological importance. Institute of Molecular and Atomic Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 70, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 166–175, March–April, 1998.     

Phonon dispersion and Raman spectra of wurtzite InAs under pressure

The authors have systematically studied the vibrational properties of wurtzite InAs at high pressure within the Density Functional Theory scheme. It is found that pressure significantly affects the phonon dispersion curves and Raman spectra. We observed an indication of phase transition for WZ-InAs at about 10 GPa. The elastic constants calculation show mechanical stability for WZ-InAs. The calculated values of structural parameters are in good agreement with available data. There is a quadratic increase in optical modes with pressure while the LO–TO splitting and effective charge decrease linearly with pressure.     

Effects on spectroscopic parameters of several low-lying electronic states of GeS by core-valence correlation and relativistic corrections

The potential energy curves (PECs) of six low-lying electronic states (X¹Σ⁺, a³Σ⁺, b³Π, A¹Π, 1³Σ⁻ and 1⁵Σ⁺) of GeS molecule have been investigated employing the full valence complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method followed by the highly accurate valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach with large correlation-consistent basis sets for internuclear separations from 0.08 to 2.00 nm. The effects on the spectroscopic parameters by the core-valence correlation, relativistic and nonadiabatic corrections have been discussed in detail. The core-valence correlation correction is carried out at the aug-cc-pCVTZ basis set. The nonadiabatic correction is performed at the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set. And the relativistic correction is made at the level of cc-pV5Z basis set. The way to consider the relativistic correction is to employ the second-order Douglas-Kroll Hamiltonian (DKH2) approximation. To obtain more reliable PECs, the Davidson modification is also included in the present study. To reduce the incomplete basis set error, the PECs of these electronic states are extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit. With these PECs, the spectroscopic parameters of these low-lying electronic states are determined. On the one hand, analyses demonstrate that the effects on the spectroscopic parameters by the core-valence correlation correction, relativistic correction and Davidson modification are very obvious, whereas the effect on the spectroscopic parameters by the nonadiabatic correction is very small. On the other hand, comparison with the RKR data shows that the two-point total-energy extrapolation could improve the quality of spectroscopic parameters. On the whole, as expected, the most accurate spectroscopic parameters of GeS molecule are determined by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+Q5 calculations.     

Experimental and theoretical study of the mechanism for the kinetic of elimination of methyl carbazate in the gas phase

The elimination kinetic of methyl carbazate in the gas phase was determined in a static system over the temperature range of 340–390 °C and pressure range of 47–118 Torr. The reaction is homogeneous, unimolecular, and obeys a first order rate law. The decomposition products are methyl amine, nitrous acid, and CO gas. The variation of the rate coefficients with temperatures is given by the Arrhenius expression: log k₁ (s^?1) = (11.56 ± 0.34) ? (180.7 ± 4.1) kJ mol^?1(2.303 RT)^?1. The estimated kinetics and thermodynamics parameters are in good agreement to the experimental values using B3LYP/6‐31G (d,p), and MP2/6‐31G (d,p) levels of theory. These calculations imply a molecular mechanism involving a concerted non‐synchronous quasi three‐membered ring cyclic transition state to give an unstable intermediate, 1,2‐oxaziridin‐3‐one. Bond order analysis and natural charges implies that polarization of O (alkyl)? C (alkyl) bond of the ester is rate determining in this reaction. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental and theoretical investigation of the apomorphine Raman spectrum

Apomorphine (aporphine‐10,11‐diol, CA Registry Number 58004) is a non‐narcotic derivative of morphine discovered in 1869 by Mattheisen [1] and it is a well‐known potent short‐acting dopamine agonist at D1 and D2 dopamine receptors, typically used in the treatment of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). To identify the unknown vibrational spectrum of this compound, apomorphine bare salt and its commercial drug formulation (Apofin) were examined by means of Raman spectroscopy. In the Raman spectrum of apomorphine (both bare salt and commercial drug), two strong characteristic signals were found, which were assigned with the help of first‐principles calculations: the band at 1589 cm⁻¹ (assigned to the stretching mode of the B aromatic ring coupled with C H in‐plane bending) and the band at 1302 cm⁻¹ (assigned to O‐H in‐plane bending and CH₂ twisting and wagging vibrations). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen—I. Verification and update of theoretical predictions

In view of the recently observed discrepancy of theory and experiment for muonic hydrogen [R. Pohl et al., Nature 466 (2010) 213], we reexamine the theory on which the quantum electrodynamic (QED) predictions are based. In particular, we update the theory of the 2P–2S Lamb shift, by calculating the self-energy of the bound muon in the full Coulomb + vacuum polarization (Uehling) potential. We also investigate the relativistic two-body corrections to the vacuum polarization shift, and we analyze the influence of the shape of the nuclear charge distribution on the proton radius determination. The uncertainty associated with the third Zemach moment 〈r³〉₂ in the determination of the proton radius from the measurement is estimated. An updated theoretical prediction for the 2S–2P transition is given.     

Spectroscopic and molecular properties of 14 selected electronic states of Si2 molecule

The potential energy curves (PECs) of the X³Σ_g⁻, D³Π_u, a¹Δ_g, b¹Π_u, H′³Σ_u⁻, K³Σ_u⁻, 1³Σ_u⁺, 1³Π_g, 2³Σ_u⁺, 2³Π_g, 3³Π_g, 3³Σ_u⁺, 2³Π_u and 2³Σ_g⁻ electronic states of the Si₂ molecule are investigated using the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method followed by the valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach with the correlation-consistent basis sets of Dunning and co-workers. The effects on the PECs by the core-valence correlation and relativistic corrections are included. The way to consider the relativistic correction is to use the third-order Douglas-Kroll Hamiltonian approximation. The core-valence correlation correction is made with the aug-cc-pCV5Z basis set. And the relativistic correction is performed at the level of cc-pV5Z basis set. To obtain more reliable results, the PECs determined by the MRCI calculations are also corrected for size-extensivity errors by means of the Davidson modification (MRCI+Q). The PECs of all these electronic states are extrapolated to the complete basis set limit by the total-energy extrapolation scheme. Using the PECs, the spectroscopic parameters are determined and compared with those reported in the literature. With these PECs determined by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+56 calculations, the vibrational levels and inertial rotation constants of the first 20 vibrational states are evaluated and compared with the RKR data for these electronic states when the rotational quantum number J equals zero. On the whole, as expected, the most accurate spectroscopic parameters and molecular constants of the Si₂ molecule are determined by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+56 calculations. And the spectroscopic parameters of the 1³Σ_u⁺, 1³Π_g, 2³Σ_u⁺, 2³Π_g, 3³Π_g, 3³Σ_u⁺, 2³Π_u and 2³Σ_g⁻ electronic states obtained by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+56 calculations should be good prediction for future laboratory experiment.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of Si-CN bonds to eliminate interface states at Si/SiO2 interface

Cyanide treatment, which includes the immersion of Si in KCN solutions followed by a rinse, effectively passivates interface states at Si/SiO₂ interfaces by the reaction of CN⁻ ions with interface states to form Si-CN bonds. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements show that the concentration of the CN species in the surface region after the cyanide treatment is ∼0.25 at.%. Take-off angle-dependent measurements of the XPS spectra indicate that the concentration of the CN species increases with the depth from the Si/SiO₂ interface at least up to ∼2 nm when ultrathin SiO₂ layers are formed at 450 °C after the cyanide treatment. When the cyanide treatment is applied to metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) solar cells with 〈ITO/SiO₂/n-Si〉 structure, the photovoltage greatly increases, leading to a high conversion efficiency of 16.2% in spite of the simple cell structure with no pn-junction. Si-CN bonds are not ruptured by air mass 1.5 100 mW cm⁻² irradiation for 1000 h, and consequently the solar cells show no degradation. Neither are Si-CN bonds broken by heat treatment at 800 °C performed after the cyanide treatment. The thermal and irradiation stability of the cyanide treatment is attributable to strong Si-CN bonds, whose bond energy is calculated to be 1 eV higher than that of the Si-H bond energy using a density functional method.