LAUSR

Abstract A rotational analysis of the electronic transition of PtF occurring at 15,252 cm−1 was recorded and analyzed. This transition is identified as the (0,0) band of the [15.3]Ω=3/2 – X 2Π3/2 electronic transition. The PtF molecules were produced in a current regulated RF-pulsed DC discharge operating with 0.80 A applied to a Pt-lined copper hollow cathode in 0.50–1.25 Torr of 1–5% SF6 in an Ar/He sputter gas mixture. The hollow cathode was placed within in the resonator cavity of a tunable DCM dye laser operating over the 14,500–16,500 cm−1 range, and path lengths of 0.2–2.0 km were utilized with the intracavity laser spectroscopy (ILS) method. The data were fit in PGOPHER using a polynomial energy level expression. Molecular constants for the excited state are presented. The nature of the new [15.3]Ω = 3/2 state is discussed.