Electronic spectroscopy of the Au(6p)-Kr complex.

We report electronic absorption spectra, recorded using one- and two-color resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy, of the Au-Kr complex. The transition is localized on the gold atom, and corresponds to a 6p<--6s atomic excitation; we observe transitions to the D (2)Pi(1/2) and D (2)Pi(3/2) spin-orbit states. In addition, we report the results of ab initio calculations, which consider electronic states arising from the 6 (2)S, 5 (2)D, and 6 (2)P atomic energy levels of Au. Further, we also report an accurate value for the dissociation energy of the ground state of Au-Kr, based on basis set extrapolated RCCSD(T) calculations. The experimental results are discussed in the light of the theoretical ones.