MOLECULAR BEAM LASER SPECTROSCOPY OF THE COBALT MONOFLUORIDE MOLECULE

Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, University of New BrunswickThe electronic spectroscopy of the cobalt monofluoride molecule has been studied using a pulsed molecular beam apparatus. The molecules were produced by chemical reaction of laser-ablated cobalt atoms in a pulsed helium expansion seeded with $SF^{6}$. The spectral region from 680 nm down to 490 nm was searched with a pulsed dye laser ($\sim 0.05 cm^{-1}$ bandwidth.) Several transitions were discovered in the 540 nm to 495 nm region. Three of the eight molecular bands measured have been tentatively assigned as belonging to ${^{3}}\Gamma \rightarrow {^{3}\Phi}$ electronic transition. The assignment of a ${^{3}}\Phi$ ground state has been supported by LCAO-LDF calculations. In addition, the strongest of the three assigned bands has been probed at sub-Doppler resolution using a single mode ring dye laser. Hyperfine structure arising from the cobalt nuclear spin, $I=7/2$, has been observed. Analysis of the data is in progress