The Pure Rotational Spectrum, Geometry, and Hyperfine Constants of Hafnium Monosulfide, HfS

The pure rotational spectra of seven isotopomers of hafnium monosulfide have been measured for several vibrational states. For the most abundant isotopomer, ¹⁸⁰Hf³²S, the J=1 - 0, J=2 - 1, and J=3 - 2 transitions were recorded up to the sixth vibrationally excited state. The constants Y₀₁, Y₀₂, Y₁₁, Y₂₁, and Y₃₁ were determined via a multi-isotopomer fit to a Dunham-type expression. In the process of fitting the data it was necessary to include Born-Oppenheimer breakdown correction terms. The equilibrium internuclear distance has been evaluated. For both the ¹⁷⁷Hf³²S and ¹⁷⁹Hf³²S isotopomers, nuclear hyperfine structure due to the hafnium nucleus was observed and notably large Hf nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, eQq, were determined.