Absorption of Intense Laser Radiation by SF6 and S2F10

Abstract

In this paper the absorption of intense laser radiation by SF6 and S2F10 will be discussed. These two species have many similarities as well as some very important differences. Both species have strong infrared absorption bands between 900 and 1000 cm-1 that have been assigned to sulfurfluorine stretching oscillations. However, the density of vibrational states in S2F10 is much greater than for SF6, and the sulfur-sulfur bond in S2F10 is only about 60% as strong as the sulfur-fluorine bonds in SF6. The absorption of pulsed CO2 laser radiation by low pressure SF6 at low temperature [1] will be discussed first, and this will be followed by a discussion of the absorption of pulsed CO2 laser radiation by S2F10 [2]. These results will be compared with some conclusions about the effect of molecular structure and the degree of initial vibrational excitation on absorption of intense infrared radiation by a polyatomic molecule will be made.