Chemical laser systems

The major effort undertaken was a thorough spectroscopic study of the products of reactions of yttrium and scandium atoms with halogen molecules. These studies have shown that chemiluminescence for these reaction systems does not originate from electronically excited monohalide molecules as suggested by previous investigators, but instead arises from electronically excited metal dihalide molecules, MX2*. Excitation spectra from the monohalides of yttrium and scandium were recorded with the laser-induced fluorescence method. Spectroscopic constants and radiative lifetimes were determined for several previously unobserved electronic states. An evaluation of the chemiluminescence from chemical reactions initiated in PH3/N2O mixtures was performed.