## Doctoral Dissertations

#### Title

SODIUM - RARE-GAS VAN DER WAALS MOLECULES

Spring 1987

Dissertation

Physics

#### Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

#### Abstract

The intensity of the fluorescent radiation from the red wing of the Na D-lines perturbed by rare-gas atoms has been measured as a function of temperature and rare-gas density. These observations were then combined with a quasistatic analysis to determine the potential well depths and the emission peak wavelengths for ${\rm Na(3P)He}\sb2,$ ${\rm Na(3P)Ar}\sb2,$ ${\rm Na(3P)Kr}\sb2,$ and ${\rm Na(3P)Ar}\sb3$ molecules. The following results were obtained: for ${\rm Na\sp\* He}\sb2,$ ${\rm D = 820(110)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 8400$ A; for ${\rm Na\sp\* Ar}\sb2,$ ${\rm D = 1100(150)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 7200$ A; for ${\rm Na\sp\* Kr}\sb2,$ ${\rm D = 1355(180)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 7400$ A; and for ${\rm Na\sp\* Ar}\sb3,$ ${\rm D = 1595(300)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 8600$ A. These results are consistent with a simple model of the alkali-rare-gas molecules in which the depth of the potential energy well of a given molecule can be accurately represented as the sum of well depths of the individual alkali-rare-gas pairs.

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