FOURIER TRANSFORM EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY OF THE VISIBLE BANDS OF GOLD CHLORIDE

Abstract

The visible bands of gold chloride, AuCl, have been recorded at high resolution $(0.05 cm^{-1})$ in the $17000 - 20000 cm^{-1}$ region. The spectrum was recorded in emission using the Fourier transform spectrometer associated with the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak. Excited gold chloride molecules were produced in a microwave discharge with $AuCl_{3}$ powder in the discharge tube using 4 torr of helium seeded with 3 ppm chlorine. Four vibronic bands of the $A- X{^{1}}\Sigma^{+}$ transition were observed. Four vibronic bands $[(0,0), (1,0), (2,0)$ and $(0,1)]$ of the $B0^{+}-X{^{1}}\Sigma^{+}$ were observed. Spectroscopic parameters for the X, A, and B states will be presented.