The Ultraviolet Spectrum of the FeF Radical: A Study of the (6)Pi-X(6)Delta and (6)Phi-X(6)Delta Band Systems at 330 and 323 nm Respectively.

Two band systems of FeF have been recorded at Doppler-limited linewidths by laser-induced fluorescence. The 330-nm system provided data for three subbands of the (0,0) band of the (6)Pi-X(6)Delta system and showed that levels of the (6)Pi(5/2) and (6)Pi(3/2) components are significantly perturbed. In the 323-nm system, the (0,0) band of the (6)Phi-X(6)Delta system was found to be overlapped by the (1,0) band of the (6)Pi-X(6)Delta system. Data were obtained for three subbands of the (1,0) (6)Pi-X(6)Delta system and for five subbands of the (0, 0) (6)Phi-X(6)Delta system. This work considerably extends the previous study by Pouilly et al. (B. Pouilly, J. Schamps, D. J. W. Lumley, and R. F. Barrow, J. Phys. B 11, 2281-2287 (1978)) because it is a higher resolution study with a lower temperature production of FeF by a continuous flow discharge method. The data recorded were combined with millimeter-wave data for FeF in the X(6)Delta state and fitted with an effective Hamiltonian to determine the major parameters for FeF in the X(6)Delta, (6)Pi, and (6)Phi electronic levels. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.