High-spin alkali trimers on helium nanodroplets: Spectral separation and analysis

Electronic excitation spectra of homo-(K-3, Rb-3) and heteronuclear (K2Rb, KRb2) alkali trimers in the high-spin quartet state have been investigated in a broad spectral range (10 600-17 400 cm(-1)). Ten new bands showing laser induced fluorescence (LIF) were measured. Due to the pickup statistics, overlapping spectra of all possible oligomers are present at once, complicating the unraveling and assignment of individual spectra. To circumvent the problem, two variations of beam depletion spectroscopy were employed in addition to the conventional analysis of the relation between signal and pickup pressure: A two-laser V-type double resonance scheme combining beam depletion with LIF, and a mass selective beam depletion scheme. In principle, these allow accurate separation of an arbitrary number of overlapping spectra. The benefits and drawbacks of each method are discussed. Assignment to electronic states is achieved by comparison with ab initio complete active space self-consistent field calculations of the excited electronic level structure of the molecules. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.