D1(5(1)P(1))[-X0(+)(5(1)S(0)) SPECTRA OF CDNE AND CDAR EXCITED IN CROSSED MOLECULAR AND LASER-BEAMS

Pump-and-probe methods of laser spectroscopy, used together with a jet-expansion molecular beam, were used to record AO(+)(5(3)P(1))<--XO(+)(5(1)S(O)) and D1(5(1)P(1))<--XO(+)(5(1)S(O)) excitation spectra of CdNe and CdAr van der Waals molecules. The spectra were subjected to vibrational analysis and the assignments of the components were made with the aid of a computer-simulated spectrum based on Franck Condon factors calculated assuming the Morse potential;as representative of the lower and upper electronic states. The analysis yielded spectroscopic constants for the XO(+), AO(+), and D1 states of CdNe and CdAr. Considerations of the linear dependence of the dissociation energy D-e of CdRG molecules on rare-gas (RG) polarizability led to the development of an empirical calculation of D-e and bond lengths for various states in metal-rare-gas van der Waals complexes; the calculations also yielded polarizabilities of some ground-state and excited metal atoms.