PHOTODISSOCIATION SPECTROSCOPY OF CU3, CU3AR, AND CU3KR

The photodissociation spectra of the copper trimer and its argon and krypton adducts have been recorded in the visible. For Cu3, we observe a number of resolved vibronic transitions to the blue of the A <-- X origin at 539.8 nm in accord with the observations of Morse et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 79, 5316 (1983)]. By contrast, the spectra Of Cu3Ar and Cu3Kr consist of continuous absorption bands with maxima at 516 and 517 nm, respectively. While the oscillator strengths of the Cu3Ar and Cu3Kr absorption bands are nearly an order of magnitude larger than that derived for Cu3 from its photodissociation spectrum, they are in much closer agreement with the oscillator strength determined from the Cu3 A --> X radiative lifetime.