THE ELECTRONIC SPECTROSCOPY OF THE BA+-AR COMPLEX - POTENTIAL SURFACE AND DISSOCIATION-ENERGIES

Ba+-Ar open-shell ionic complexes were produced in a pulsed free-jet expansion. The dispersed emission and both the low and high resolution A 2Π-X 2Σ+ excitation spectra of the Ba+-Ar complex are reported. The data obtained were used to construct potentials for the ground and excited states. A simple quantum mechanical model was introduced in order to simulate the experimentally measured potentials. The model potential is used to estimate the dissociation energy of the ground 2Σ+ state. This value, when combined with the spectral red shift, allows the dissociation energies of the two components of the excited 2Π state to be determined. The same electrostatic interaction model also explains the observed angular momentum coupling scheme as well as the much stronger binding in the excited 2Π state. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.