Simulation of emission molecular spectra by a semi-automatic programme package:: the case of C2 and CN diatomic molecules emitting during laser ablation of a graphite target in nitrogen environment

Some emission spectra of diatomic molecules were calculated by a semi-automatic programme package in order to infer the rotational and vibrational temperatures in Boltzmann distribution by comparing them with the corresponding experimental ones. The calculation procedure was applied in the case of CN radical and C-2 molecule whose optical emission spectra were recorded during pulsed excimer laser ablation of a graphite target in low-pressure nitrogen environment. Computed similar or dissimilar values of rotational and vibrational temperatures let to verify the existence or not of local thermodynamic: equilibrium and to hypothesise the temporal range necessary to establish it in such experiments. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.