In this project funded by the Chemistry and the International Programs Divisions Donald W. Setser of Kansas State University will pursue cooperative international research with Dr. V. A. Alekseev of the Physics Research Institute of St. Petersburg, Russia to characterize the spectroscopy and kinetics of the states of ClF in the 8.5 to 12 eV energy range. Dr. Alekseev has extensive experience with vacuum ultraviolet excitation in this energy range, and Dr. Setser has studied similar species using two-photon laser excitation or dc discharges in flow reactors. After gaining experience at Kansas State, Dr. Alekseev will return to St. Petersburg and will combine the two-photon technique with one-photon techniques currently used in that laboratory. Specific species of interest are the B and C states of XeCl made by photodissociation of the precursor van der Waals molecule XeClR (where R is any group) prepared using a pulsed free jet expansion. %%% Excimer lasers, which are based on rare-gas halide molecules, are currently used for a wide variety of purposes, from cutting and annealing metals in manufacturing to surgery in doctors' offices. Understanding the nature of these species could impact the development of new laser sources as well as provide a better characterization of existing excimer lasers to better optimize them.
