15min:

HAILING WANG, XIUJUAN ZHUANG AND TIMOTHY C. STEIMLE, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe,AZ 85287; COLAN LINTON, Center for Lasers, Atomic and Molecular Sciences and Physics Department, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB Canada E3B 5A3.

Recently the New Brunswick group reported on the detection and analysis of the B³ ₄-X³ ₄ band system of IrF. The free-jet expansion conditions limited the spectral resolution to approximately 200 MHz, which was insufficient to fully resolve the ¹⁹¹Ir(I=3/2), ¹⁹³Ir(I=3/2)and ¹⁹F(I=1/2)magnetic hyperfine splitting. Here we report on the analysis of the same band system recorded under molecular beam conditions which resulted in a resolution of 40 MHz. A simple molecular orbital correlation diagram is used to rationalize the determined parameters of IrF and the isovalent molecules RhF and CoF.