Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.113, No.8, 3026-3033, 2000
Fourier transform spectroscopy of BaO: New ground-state constants from the A (1)Sigma(+)-X (1)Sigma(+) chemiluminescence
The A (1)Sigma(+)-X (1)Sigma(+) emission spectrum of BaO excited in a Broida-type oven was revisited using a Fourier transform spectrometer. Chemiluminescence was observed from excited BaO molecules generated from the Ba+N2O reaction, and 82 vibrational bands of (BaO)-Ba-138 were measured in the range 8900-21 000 cm(-1) at a resolution of 0.04 cm(-1). Vibrational levels were observed up to v' = 20 of the ground state and up to v' = 11 for the excited state. In addition, 72 bands from the minor isotopomers (BaO)-Ba-137, (BaO)-Ba-136, and (BaO)-Ba-135 were detected with v' up to 14 and v(') up to 4. Over 15 500 lines with J' up to 119 were measured with a precision of about 0.005 cm(-1), which shows that the Broida oven is an excellent source for high-resolution emission spectroscopy. Our main goal here is to obtain an optimum set of molecular constants for the ground electronic state. To avoid complications due to the well-known perturbations for v(A)' greater than or equal to 1 of the A (1)Sigma(+) state, our unified combined-isotopomer analysis used a novel combination of a Dunham expansion description of the ground state with independent band-constants for data involving A-state level v(A)' = 0, while fitting to an independent term value for each observed A-state v(A)' greater than or equal to 1 vibration-rotation level of each isotopomer. Significantly improved ground-state constants and A-state v(A)' = 0 band constants are obtained, together with term values for some 1372 higher-v' A-state levels.