Intramolecular dynamics of van der Waals molecules: An extended infrared study of ArHF.

The near-infrared spectrum of ArHF prepared in a slit supersonic expansion is recorded with a difference frequency infrared laser spectrometer. By virtue of the high sensitivity of the technique, and the lack of appreciable spectral congestion at the 10 K jet temperature, we observe 9 of the 11 vibrational states with energies below the Ar+HF(v=1, j=0) dissociation limit. These include (1000), the lowest bound HF (v=1) state, the singly, doubly, and quadruply van der Waals stretch excited states (1001) (1002), and (1004), both the Σ bend (1200) and Π bend (111e,f 0), and the multiply excited, Π bend plus van der Waals stretch (111e,f 1). Two Ar+HF(v=0) states, (0000) and (0001), are also characterized. This spectroscopic information is quite sensitive to the Ar+HF potential energy surface away from the equilibrium configuration, and thus provides a rigorous test of trial potential energy surfaces. Excellent agreement is obtained between experiment and the predictions of a recently reported Ar+HF(v=1) potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]