FOURIER-TRANSFORM SPECTROSCOPY OF THE SWAN (D(3)PI(G)-A(3)PI(U)) SYSTEM OF THE JET-COOLED C2 MOLECULE

The Swan (d 3PI(g)-a 3PI(u)) system of the C2 molecule was produced in a jet-cooled corona excited supersonic expansion of helium using diazoacetonitrile as a precursor molecule. This spectrum was recorded using the McMath Fourier transform spectrometer of the National Solar Observatory at Kitt Peak. A total of nine bands with v' = 0 to 3 and v'' = 0 to 4 in the range 16,570-22,760 cm-1 were observed and rotationally analyzed. The C2 molecules in this source had a rotational temperature of only 90 K so that only the low-J lines were present in the spectrum. In some sense the low temperatures in the jet source simulate conditions in the interstellar medium. The Swan system of C2 was also produced in a composite wall hollow cathode made Al4C3/Cu, and the rotational structure of the 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 0-0, and 1-1 bands were analyzed. The data obtained from both these spectra were fitted together along with some recently published line positions. The rotational constants, lambda doubling parameters and the vibrational constants were estimated from this global fit. Our work on jet-cooled C2 follows similar work on the violet and red systems of CN. A summary of this CN work is also presented.