ELECTRONIC SPECTROSCOPY OF SILVER-RARE GAS VANDER WAALS COMPLEXES

Abstract

Vibrationally resolved electronic spectra were observed for weakly bound complexes of the form Ag-RG (RG=Ar, Kr, Xe). These complexes were produced by laser vaporization of a silver rod in a pulsed nozzle cluster source. Resonant two-photon photoionization was employed to collect the spectra, and isotopic spectra were accumulated for each of the different Ag-RG species. The observed molecular states $(A^{2}\Pi_{1/2,3/2} \leftarrow X^{2}\Sigma_{1/2})$ correlate with the ${^{2}}P_{1/2,3/2} \leftarrow {^{2}}S_{1/2}$ atomic silver resonances, and are redshifted from these transitions. Preliminary analysis of the extensive vibrational progressions yields the vibrational constants: $Ag-Ar, \omega_{e} = 103 cm^{-1}; Ag-Kr, \omega_{e} = 103 cm^{-1}; Ag-Xe, \omega_{e} = 119 cm^{-1}$.