Near-infrared LIF spectroscopy of HfF

• Published in: Journal of molecular spectroscopy Vol. 272; no. 1; pp. 32 - 35
• Main Authors: Grau, M., Leanhardt, A.E., Loh, H., Sinclair, L.C., Stutz, R.P., Yahn, T.S., Cornell, E.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-02-2012
• Subjects: Hafnium fluoride; Induced fluorescence; Laser spectroscopy; Induced fluorescence; Hafnium fluoride; Laser spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0022-2852; 1096-083X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jms.2011.12.006

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► HfF is an important molecule for eEDM measurement. ► We perform near-infrared spectroscopy on HfF. ► We discover eight new vibrational bands. ► These vibrational bands are assigned as transitions from the ground state to one of two unreported upper states. ► We report new measurements for molecular constants for HfF.
The molecular ion HfF+ is the chosen species for a JILA experiment to measure the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM). Detailed knowledge of the spectrum of HfF is crucial to prepare HfF+ in a state suitable for performing an eEDM measurement [1]. We investigated the near-infrared electronic spectrum of HfF using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of a supersonic molecular beam. We discovered eight unreported bands, and assign each of them unambiguously, four to vibrational bands belonging to the transition [13.8]0.5←X1.5, and four to vibrational bands belonging to the transition [14.2]1.5←X1.5. Additionally, we report an improved measurement of vibrational spacing of the ground state, as well as anharmonicity ωexe.