Two-centre model potential energy calculations for the Σ and Π states of Li2, Na2, K2, Rb2 and Cs2

Two-centre model potential calculations have been carried out for the ²Σ⁺_g,u and ²Π_g,u states of Li⁺₂, Na⁺₂, K⁺₂, Rb⁺₂ and Cs⁺₂. Comparison with other model potential calculations suggests that reliable potential curves have been obtained. The results indicate the usefulness of calculating diatomic energies by the method proposed.     

Lifetime measurements of the excited states of N2 AND N2 by laser-induced fluorescence

Absorption and fluorescent scattering of nitrogen laser radiation by a low-pressure RF laboratory plasma (n_e = 10¹² cm⁻³) has been observed for the first negative system of N₂⁺. A 67±1 ns lifetime of N₂⁺ (B ²Σ_u⁺) was experimentally measured from the laser-induced fluorescence. In addition, enough collisionally excited N₂ (B ³Π_g) was produced to observe laser-induced fluorescence for the second positive system of N₂. The lifetime of N₂ (C ³Π_u) was found to be 41±2 ns. The measured lifetimes are in good agreement with published values calculated from theory.     

Laser induced photodissociation spectroscopy: Br2

The continuous absorption spectrum of molecular bromine has been examined using laser induced photodissociation spectroscopy. In this technique, Br₂ molecules are photolyzed using a flashlamp-pumped dye laser; the atomic products of the dissociation are then monitored by time-resolved resonance absorption spectroscopy in the vacuum ultraviolet. The relative absorptivities for the transitions B³Π_o⁺u ← X¹Σ⁺_g and ¹Π_1u ← X¹Σ⁺_g have been obtained at 18350, 21010 and 22125 cm⁻¹.     

193 nm Laser dissociation of CS2: prompt emission from CS and internal energy distribution of CS(XΣ)

Single and multiple photon processes are identified in the 193 nm excimer laser photolysis of CS₂. CS(X¹Σ⁺, υ = 1 to 5, J = 5 to 45) is observed by dye laser induced fluorescence of the A¹Π ↔ ; X¹Σ⁺ transition, following the single photon 193 nm photolysis of CS₂. Multiple photon 193 nm generation of CS fragment emission from 620 to 170 nm is also reported. A partial assignment of the emission spectrum identifies fluorescence from the CS A′¹Σ⁺ and A¹Π states.     

Fraction of excited-state oxygen formed as b Σg in solution-phase-photosensitized reactions II. Effects of sensitizer substituent

The fraction F_Σ of excited-state oxygen formed as b ¹Σ_g⁺ was determined for a series of triplet-state photosensitizers in CCl₄ solutions. F_Σ was determined by monitoring the intensities of (a) O₂(b ¹Σ_g⁺) fluorescence at 1926 nm (O₂(b ¹Σ_g⁺)→O₂(a ¹Δ_g) and (b) O₂(a ¹ Δ_g) phosphorescence at 1270 nm (O₂(a ¹Δ_g) → O₂(X³Σ_g⁻)). Oxygen excited states were formed by energy transfer from substituted benzophenones and acetophenones. The data indicate that F_Σ depends on several variables including the orbital configuration of the lowest triplet state and the triplet-state energy. The available data indicate that the sensitizer-oxygen charge transfer (CT) state is not likely to influence F_Σ strongly by CT-mediated mixing of various sensitizer-oxygen states.     

Two-photon excitation of h2o and D2O with a KrF laser (248 nm): photofragment fluorescence from OH and OD(A∑)

Photofragment fluorescence. From OH and OD(A ²∑⁺→X²π), has been observed following two-photon excitation of H₂O and D₂O in the gas phase with a KrF laser (248 nm). The rotational band contour of the OH fluorescence is the same as that observed following single-photon vacuum ultraviolet photolysis of H₂O at 123.6 nm.     

The chemical production of electronically excited states in the H/NF2 system

A mixture of NF₃ and Ar is passed through an rf discharge in a flow-system to produce, among other species, F and NF₂. When H₂, D₂, or CH₄ are added downstream, reactions with F atoms produce vibrationally excited HF or DF together with H, D, or CH₃. The latter free radicals can react with NF₂, probably by an elimination reaction to produce electronically excited NF: NF₂(²B₁) + H(D, CH₃) → HF^*(DF^* + NF(a¹Δ). A vibrational-to-electronic energy transfer process between the products of this reaction then produces the next higher state of NF: HF(ν 2) + NF(a¹Δ) → HF(ν−2) + NF(b¹Σ⁺). A similar transfer process has also been found between the electronically excited a¹Δ states of O₂ and NF: O₂(a¹Δ) + NF(a¹Δ) → O₂(X³Σ⁻) + NF(b¹Σ⁺). The H or D atoms but not the CH₃ radicals are then found to react with either NF(a¹Δ) or NF(X³Σ⁻) to produce electronically excited N(₂D) atoms, which in turn react with the NF(a¹Δ) molecules to produce N₂(B³Π_g). The observed nitrogen first positive radiation has been demonstrated to be produced entirely by this reaction mechanism rather than by the N(⁴S) recombination that accounts for the Rayleigh afterglow. In addition, the occurrence of the reaction N(₂D) + N₂O → NO(B²Π_r) + N₂ (X¹Σ⁺_g) has been verified. Finally we have observed emission at 3344 Å, which we attribute to the NF(A³Π), which has not been previously reported.     

Absorption and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) studies of 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxy diimides in terms of CASSCF method and FC theory

The electronic and geometrical structures of the low-energy states of 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride parent diimide (1) are studied in terms of the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method employed at different level with respect to the size and the quality of the active space. In the framework of the vibronic model based on the Franck–Condon (FC) effect the absorption and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra are studied in the excitation region corresponding to two low-energy 1¹A_g → 1¹B_2u and 1¹A_g → 1¹B_3u electronic transitions in diimides. In that (visible) excitation region the CASSCF computations with the 5π[4n]5π active space (i.e., the naphthalene-like π orbitals enriched by the four lone pair orbitals of the oxygen atoms) were found to reproduce very well the empirical absorption and the MCD spectra measured for the dicyclohexyl-N,N^′-substituted diimide (2). At the same CASSCF/5π[4n]5π level, the electronic absorption of diimides in the near UV excitation region were attributed to the 1¹A_g → 2¹B_1u, 1¹A_g → 2¹B_3u and 1¹A_g → 2¹B_2u electronic transitions; the latter two are mostly localized on the “diimide chromophore”. For these transitions the calculated magneto-optical characteristics, such as sign pattern and intensity distribution in the MCD spectrum, were found to be consistent with that experimentally observed for the diimide 2 compound.     

Detection of higher excited states of p-fluorotoluene with (3 + 1)RMPI spectra

In this paper the results of detection of higher excited states of p-fluorotoluene in the gas phase are presented. Within a laser scanning range of 547.0–570.0 nm (3+1) RMPI spectra are obtained, and some vibrational structures on the third electronically excited valence state are observed. According to the polarization characteristic of the multiphoton transition the symmetry of the electronic state is determined as A₁+B₁+3pB₂. Correlated to excited states of benzene, the results show that A₁+B₁ corresponds to ¹E_1u and 3pB₂ to 3p ¹A_2u. It indicates that the double degeneracy of ¹E_1u state does not yet degrade in p-fluorotoluene. Moreover, it occasionally degenerates with 3p¹ A_2u. Furthermore, the electron distribution in the phenyl ring maintains the symmetry of the D_6h point group consistently like in benzene.     

Lifetime measurements of electronically excited C3(Πu) radicals in different vibrational states

The radiative lifetimes of nine vibrational levels of the C₃(¹Π_u) radical were obtained from decay time studies of the C₃(¹Π_u → ¹Σ⁺_g) fluorescence induced by a tunable dye laser. The lifetimes of the different vibronic levels were found to be constant within the experimental error limits, namely, τ_o = (200 ± 10) ns. The collisional deactivation of the C₃(¹Π_u) states by helium gives rate constants between 2.5 and 4 in 10⁻¹¹ cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ units.     

The vibrational state distributions in both products of the reaction: O(P) + NO2 → O2 + NO

A laser pulse-and-probe method has been used to determine the nascent vibrational populations in NO(v=0–4) and O₂(v=6–11) formed in the thermal reaction: O(³P) + NO₂ → O₂(v) + NO(v). A frequency-tripled Nd: YAG laser is used to photolyse NO₂, diluted tenfold in Ar, and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy in the NO A ²Σ⁺-X ²Π and O₂ B ³Σ⁻_u -X ³Σ⁻_g electronic band system is used both to follow the kinetics of individual vibrational states and to determine the nascent vibrational distributions. The majority of the NO product is formed in v = 0 and the average vibrational yield is ≈ 4.6%. The O₂ populations fall monotonically from v = 6 to 11 in a distribution close to what is expected on prior grounds. Based on a surprisal analysis, the average vibrational energy yield in O₂ is ≈ 26%. The nature of the reaction dynamics is discussed.     

Quenching of the dissociative electron attachment resonances of O2 physisorbed on amorphous ice

Measurements of electron stimulated desorption (ESD) yields of O⁻, at incident electron energies below 20 eV, from 0.15 monolayers (ML) of O₂ physisorbed at 20 K on a variety of molecular solids have been performed. It is observed that for O₂ condensed on 4 ML of H₂O, the O⁻ signal from dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to O₂ is entirely absent. We attribute this to a complete quenching of the dissociative ²Π_u, ²Σ⁺_g, and ²Σ⁺_u, resonances of O⁻₂ by the adjacent water molecules.     

Reaction dynamics of the Ca(D2, PJ) + CH3I → CaI + CH3 system: chemiluminescence, energy disposal and product polarization

The Ca(¹D₂, ³P_J) + CH₃ → CaI(A,B) + CH₃ reactions system has been studied by measuring its chemiluminescence under beam-gas conditions. Absolute values of the state-to-state reaction cross-sections were determined at low collision energy . In addition, the electronic branching ratio and product energy disposal have been determined for each metastable reaction. The major changed observed in the chemiluminescence when comparing the Ca(¹D₂) reaction versus that of Ca(³P_J) is the total yield associated with the former reaction. To the best of our spectral resolution neither the electronic branching ratio e.g. CaI(A)/CaI(B) nor the internal CaI energy disposal change significantly as the metastable Ca(¹D₂)/Ca(³P_J) ratio is varied. In spite of the fact that the Ca(³P_J) reaction is less exoergic, the CaI product appears with a higher fraction of internal energy than that of Ca(¹D₂) reaction. Thus, the fraction of the total energy appearing in CaI internal energy amounts to 57.5% in the Ca(³P_J) reaction while it is 19.3% only for the Ca(¹D₂) reaction. This difference is discussed in the light of a distinct mechanism associated with the attack of the excited Ca atom into the C---I bond. No significant chemiluminescence yield was found for the energetically open CaCH^*₃ channels.

The product chemiluminescence polarization was also measured as a function of the metastable concentration. A significant degree of polarization was found depending upon the specific electronic excitation. The analysis of the polarization emission associated to the parallel CaI(X ²Σ⁺ ← B ²Σ⁺) emission led into a strong polarization of the product rotational angular momentum. The comparison of the product rotational alignment for the kinematically identical Ca(¹D₂, ³P_J, ¹P₁) + CH₃ → CaI^* (B₂Σ⁺) + CH₃ reaction system showed that the CaI rotational polarization diminishes in the ³P_J → ¹D₂ → ¹P₁ sequence, e.g. as the reaction exothermicity increases. In addition the degree of polarization associated with other emission bands as for example CaI(X ²Σ⁺ ← A ²Π_1/2) indicates the presence of a parallel transition which was been interpreted as mixing of Hund's case (a) and (c) appropriate for this heavy CaI diatom produced with a high rotational excitation.     

Photodissociation spectroscopy of Mg—Ar

Mg⁺—Ar ion—molecule complexes are produced in a pulsed supersonic nozzle cluster source. The complexes are mass selected and studied with laser photodissociation spectroscopy in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer system. An electronic transition assigned as X ²Σ⁺ → ²Π is observed with an origin at 31387 cm⁻¹ (vac) for ²⁴Mg⁺—Ar. The ²⁴Mg⁺—Ar spectrum is characterized by a 15 member progression with a frequency (ω′_e) of 272 cm⁻¹. An extrapolation of this progression fixes the excited state dissociation energy (D′_o) at 5552 cm⁻¹. The corresponding ground-state value (D″_o) is 1270 cm⁻¹ (3.6 kcal/mol). The ²Π _, spin—orbit splitting is 76 cm⁻.     

Vibrational relaxation and electronic mutation of metastable nitrogen molecules generated by nitrogen atom recombination on cobalt and nickel

The recombination of nitrogen atoms on polycrystalline samples of cobalt and nickel produces metastable electronically excited nitrogen molecules, probably N₂(W³Δ_u), which are collisionally transferred to the N₂(B³Πg) state. Information about vibrational relaxation of the metastable state by N₂(X¹Σ⁺_g) is inferred from composition dependent changes in the observed first positive emission spectrum [N₂9A³Σ⁺_g)−N₂(B³Π_g] with the aid of multilevel, steady-state, kinetic model.     

The production of SO (Σ) by flash excitation of sulphur dioxide

The spectrum of SO (X³Σ⁻) has been observed following the flash excitation of sulphur dioxide with radiation above 250 nm. Sulphur monoxide is produced via an excited molecule mechanism involving triplet SO₂. The rate constant for the reaction ³SO₂ + SO₂ was measured as (3.1 ± 1) × 10⁸ M⁻¹ sec⁻¹.     

Electronic structure of the radicals NF and NCl. III. The radiative lifetimes of the bΣ and aΔ states

The radiative lifetimes of the b¹Σ⁺ and a¹Δ states have been evaluated by perturbation expansions including X³Σ⁻, a¹Δ, b¹Σ⁺, 1^3,1Π, 2^3,1Π, 2³Σ⁻ and 2¹Σ⁺ states. All wavefunctions result from large MRD CI calculations. The b—X transition is dominated by the parallel transition moment; it is found to be much stronger than the a—X transition. The calculated radiative lifetimes of τ(¹Σ⁺)=18 ms, τ(¹Δ)=2.2 s for NF and τ(¹Σ⁺)=2.5–3.5 ms for NCl are in good accord with corresponding experimentally deduced values. The lifetime for the a¹Δ state in NCl is found to be τ(¹Δ)=1.1 s, ie. much longer than derived from a recent experiment. Its magnitude is consistent with the τ(b¹Σ⁺)/τ(a¹Δ) ratio of similar systems and with the decrease in lifetime from NF to NCl and is thus believed to be quite reliable. A detailed analysis of all contributions of the perturber states to the transition mechanism is made and comparison with the related data in SO, O₂ and S₂ is undertaken. The b-a transition probability dominated by the quadrupole transition is fairly constant in all the systems in the order of A = 0.013 (NF) - 0.0013 (S₂) s⁻¹.     

Theoretical determination of the ionization potentials of the 1σ and 2σ electrons of CO(Σ)

Large-basis-set calculations of near Hartree-Fock accuracy were performed on CO⁺(1σ-hole ²Σ⁺) and CO⁺)2σ-hole, ²Σ⁺); correlation energies for these systems and for CO were calculated using an atoms-in-molecule approach, relativistic energies and vibrational structure corrections were also considered. The results are: IP(CO, 1σ) = 542.4 (542.57) eV, IP(CO,2σ) = 297.0 (296.24) cV, D_c(CO, ¹Σ⁺) = 10.8 (11.1) Ev, D₃(CO⁺, 1σ, ²Σ⁺) = 11.9 eV, D_e(CO⁺, 2σ, ²Σ⁺) = 9.1 eV, where IP and D_e stand respectively for ionization potential and dissociation energy, and where the numbers in parentheses refer to the most recent experimental values. The electron transfers resulting from the ionization of inner-shell electrons are discussed. Finally a quantitative correlation is developed correlating absolute chemical shifts to charge densities. Agreement between the calculated values and those derived from the correlation is quite satisfactory.     

Photon energy upconversion in porphyrins: one-photon hot-band absorption versus two-photon absorption

We study the porphyrin S₁→S₀ fluorescence and the photosensitized singlet oxygen ¹Δ_g→³Σ_g phosphorescence, both originating from absorption of photons with energy less than the porphyrin S₀→S₁ transition energy. By measuring the excitation intensity dependence of fluorescence at lowered sample temperatures, we are able to discriminate between two parallel processes of one-photon hot-band absorption (HBA) and simultaneous two-photon absorption (TPA). When the HBA and TPA contributions are comparable in magnitude, we use this new method to determine absolute TPA cross-section. We also demonstrate for the first time a singlet oxygen photosensitization via HBA in porphyrin.     

Laser-induced population depletion effects in double resonance excitation with Hg vapors

By monitoring the green fluorescence transition of mercury vapor 7 ³S₁→6 ³P⁰₂ (546.074 nm) excited by two pulsed dye lasers tuned at two connected atomic resonant frequencies, i.e. 6 ¹S₀→6 ³P⁰₁ (253.652 nm) and 6 ³P⁰₁→ 7 ³S₁ (435.835 nm), a decrease in the green fluorescence yield is experimentally observed when the intensity of the 435.835-nm excitation transition exceeds 5 kW/cm². A similar result is obtained at the yellow fluorescence transition 6 ³D₁→6 ¹P⁰₁ (578.967 nm) when the second step is tuned to the 6 ³P⁰₁→6 ³D₁ transition (313.159 nm). At the same time, an increase in the transmittance of the ground state transition (253.652 nm) is observed. It is speculated that this effect, which occurs only when both laser pulses are temporally coincident, and is therefore not due to photoionization, can be ascribed to the existence of laser induced effects, such as a.c. Stark splitting of levels and possibly electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). Our experiment does not allow us to distinguish between these two effects, nor their quantitative evaluation. However, it is stressed that one cannot overlook them in those atomic multi-step excitation experiments in low collisional environments where a depletion of an intermediate level is involved, as for example in the case of atomic fluorescence dip spectroscopy or atomic multistep and multiphoton resonance ionization spectroscopy.