VANDERWAALS BONDING IN THE LOWEST ELECTRONIC STATES OF MGAR, ZNAR, CDAR, AND HGAR - SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE B 3-PI-2 AND E3-SIGMA+ STATES OF THE CDAR MOLECULE

Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy was utilized to characterize the b (3)PI(2) and e (3)SIGMA+ states of the CdAr molecule. The CdAr(b (3)PI(2)) state was synthesized by entrainment of metastable Cd(5s5p 3P2) atoms (created by laser vaporization of a Cd rod) into a supersonic expansion of Ar gas. Spectroscopic constants, bond lengths, and bond dissociation energies are reported for the CdAr(b (3)PI(2)) and CdAr(e (3)SIGMA+) states. A detailed discussion of van der Waals bonding in all of the low-lying electronic states of the MgAr, ZnAr, CdAr, and HgAr molecules is also presented, including an analysis of the effects of increasing spin-orbit coupling on the (3)PI(OMEGA) potential curves.