The fine structure of the spectrum of the electronic NO laser

The spectrum of the electronic NO laser has been photographed with high resolution in the region 10 100–10 500 Å. It shows the band system F²Δ-C²Π whose upper and lower states are both Rydberg states configurationally mixed with valence states. Only predissociated rotational levels of the lower state appear in the spectrum. For v = 0 of C²Π a single mixed level $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{y}}\text{(J = 5}\text{1}\text{2}\text{) = 52431}\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$, very close to the dissociation limit, gives rise to laser lines.