Knowledge Bank

The measurement of rotational $transitions1$ in ArHF, involving the less common argon isotopes in natural abundances, has been made possible by modifying the pulsed Fourier-transform Fabry-Perot microwave spectrometer developed by W. H. Flygare and co-$workers.2$ We have extended these studies to ArDF by measuring the K = 0 J = 1 $\to$ 2 transitions in $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">36</mrow>}$ArDF and $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">38</mrow>}$ArDF at 12,610 and 12,373 MHz, respectively. The analysis of the rare gas HF binary complexes has traditionally utilized the centrifugal distortion constant, $DJ$, in determining the equilibrium geometry and well depth. The argon isotopic data permit the determination of the vibration-rotation interaction constant, $ae$ (approximately 1000 times larger than $DJ$) which can be used to improve the determination of the radial potential. The analysis of the ArDF potential will be discussed with respect to the previous ArHF results.