Group-12 vdW dimers in free-jet supersonic beams - the legacy of Eugeniusz Czuchaj continues

Laser induced excitation and dispersed fluorescence spectra of group-
12 metal homoatomic dimers (Zn2, Cd2, Hg2) recorded at a number of ultraviolet
transitions provided information about interatomic potentials of the ground
and lower-lying excited electron energy states of the dimers. The experimental
studies were associated with calculations performed by Eugeniusz Czuchaj that
were related to interatomic potentials as well as dipole moments for transitions
between the ground and the excited states of the dimers. In experiments the
dimers were produced in free-jet supersonic beams and were excited in a vacuum
chamber with dye-laser beams. Isotopically resolved vibrational transitions in
low-resolution excitation spectra and high-resolution rotational profiles of several
vibrational components as well as Condon internal diffraction patterns in
dispersed fluorescence spectra were recorded. Complex analyses of the spectra
yielded information about the ground- and excited-state potential bond lengths,
well depths as well as shapes of the investigated potentials in limited regions of
internuclear separations. The determined potential energy curves were compared
with results of Czuchaj providing conclusions related to the accuracy of calculations
and/or experiments as well as giving the experimentalist information about
planning experimental studies of molecular potentials of the group-12 dimers.