Thorium metal has been ablated by a Nd:YAG laser in the presence of oxygen and argon.  The chemical products of this reaction have been entrained in supersonic pulses of argon gas and examined using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. One reaction product is thorium (II) oxide and for this species the J = 1 � 0 pure rotational transition has been recorded in newly observed vibrational states v=8-15.Combining this new data, with that of a previous study,1 has allowed for the rotational constants to be re-determined with higher precision.  Analysis of the relative intensities of the observed transitions suggests a vibrational temperature in our experiment of approximately 3000 K.  In addition to the new data for thorium (II) oxide, seven thorium-dependent spectral transitions have been observed between 7 and 20 GHz. The molecule(s) that these transitions belong to is yet to be determined but it is currently postulated that there are at least two thorium species present and that some of these lines most likely belong to ThO2. Progress on these experiments will be presented.Dewberry, C. T.; Etchison, K. C.; Cooke, S. A. The pure rotational spectrum of the actinide-containing compound thorium monoxide. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2007 , 9, 4895-4897.

Pure rotational spectroscopic study of thorium (II) oxide, ThO

247th National Meeting (2014)

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