STUDIES AND AB INITIO CALCULATIONS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE C STATE OF SF₂

SF 2 radicals were generated by a pulsed dc discharge in a gas beam of SF 2 and Ar. The (2+1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) excitation spectrum of SF 2 radical was obtained between 330 and 365 nm. The SF + cation signals were also observed in the same wavelength range. Ab initio calculations show that the C state is a predissociative state with Rydberg characteristics. The REMPI spectrum is assigned to a two-photon resonant excitation of the SF 2 radical (the B 1 B 1 and C 1 A 1 states). Potential energy curves of excited states of the SF 2 radical obtained by ab initio calculations suggest that SF + cations originate from the ionization of SF fragments yielded from the dissociation of the C state.