Knowledge Bank

The feasibility of the use of helium clusters $(Hei\nu n\sim 104)$ for the preparation of triplet states of alkali dimers is illustrated through the observation of a rotationally resolved transition arising from the lowest bound triplet state of the $Na2$ molecule. Molecular sodium species including dimers and larger clusters form on the surface of a helium cluster and are subsequently probed by laser induced fluorescence. It is found that upon formation some molecules remain on the cluster while others evaporate. Molecules which are solvated by the cluster while others evaporate. Molecules which are solvated by the cluster produce broadened, vibrationally resolved $spectra1$. The desorbed molecules, because of their low translational velocity, are projected towards the LIF detector allowing the acquisition of narrow, rotationally resolved spectra in both the singlet and triplet manifolds of the sodium dimer.