ALKALI-HALIDE PHOTOFRAGMENT SPECTRA .3. ALKALI CHLORIDE BOND-ENERGIES AND EXCITED-STATE SYMMETRIES AT 266 NM

Photofragment spectroscopy studies of the four heavier alkali chlorides at 266 nm are reported. Alkali atom recoil time-of-flight distributions provide indirect evidence for production of both ground 2P3/2 and excited 2P1/2 Cl atoms, but quantitative branching ratios are only approximate. The following bond dissociation energies (D 00, kcal mole-1, all uncertainties ±2 kcal mole-1) are determined: NaCl = 97.6; KCl = 102.6; RbCl = 101.3; CsCl = 104.4. From recoil angular distributions the percentage parallel transition intensities to the unresolved excited states are calculated to be: NaCl = 16 ± 2; KCl = 26 ± 5; RbCl = 32 ± 1; CsCl = 25 ± 6. © 1980 American Institute of Physics.