Spectroscopy of N+2 Meinel bands and CO+ comet tail bands

Abstract

The N+2[X2 Σ+g(v″=0)– A 2Πu(v′=5)] Meinel band and the CO+[X 2Σ+(v″=0)– A 2Π(v′=1,2)] comet tail bands have been measured with Doppler-limited resolution in a selected ion flow tube (SIFT) apparatus using laser induced charge transfer. The charge transfer medium was Ar, which does not react with those ions in their ground levels, but undergoes a strong charge transfer reaction with the excited states under consideration here. The use of a single mode laser and the SIFT technique led to much higher signal-to-noise than obtained in earlier work. These measurements are the first reported with Doppler-limited resolution on any of these bands, and are analyzed to provide substantially improved molecular constants for the excited states involved in the transitions.