Photoelectron imaging spectroscopy of MoC(-) and NbN(-) diatomic anions: A comparative study.
The isoeletronic diatomic MoC(-) and NbN(-) anions have been prepared by laser ablation and studied by photoelectron imaging spectroscopy combined with quantum chemistry calculations. The photoelectron spectra of NbN(-) can be very well assigned on the basis of literature reported optical spectroscopy of NbN. In contrast, the photoelectron spectra of MoC(-) are rather complex and the assignments suffered from the presence of many electronically hot bands and limited information from the reported optical spectroscopy of MoC. The electron affinities of NbN and MoC have been determined to be 1.450 ± 0.003 eV and 1.360  ±  0.003 eV, respectively. The good resolution of the imaging spectroscopy provided a chance to resolve the Ω splittings of the X(3)Σ(-) (Ω = 0 and 1) state of MoC and the X(4)Σ(-) (Ω = 1/2 and 3/2) state of MoC(-) for the first time. The spin-orbit splittings of the X(2)Δ state of NbN(-) and the a(2)Δ state of MoC(-) were also determined. The similarities and differences between the electronic structures of the NbN and MoC systems were discussed.
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Qing-Yu
QY
Liu
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Lianrui
L
Hu
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Zi-Yu
ZY
Li
Department of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
Chuan-Gang
CG
Ning
Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, The Institute for Chemical Physics, School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China.
Jia-Bi
JB
Ma
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Hui
H
Chen
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
Sheng-Gui
SG
He