Laser Spectroscopy of Bound NaNe Molecules

Abstract

We have produced the van der Waals molecule NaNe in a supersonic expansion, and have studied the $A^{2}\ensuremath{\Pi}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}X^{2}\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ transition using a single-mode cw dye laser. Using analysis based on isotope shifts and the long-range ${R}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$ behavior of the excited-state $A^{2}\ensuremath{\Pi}$ potential, we find its well depth and location to be ${D}_{\mathrm{eA}}=140\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ at ${\mathcal{r}}_{\mathrm{eA}}=(5.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1){a}_{0}$ and for the $X^{2}\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ ground state, ${D}_{\mathrm{eX}}=8.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.9$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ at ${\mathcal{r}}_{\mathrm{eX}}=(10.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2){a}_{0}$. These results are compared with pseudopotential calculations and several recent line-broadening and collisions experiments.