Reactions of pulsed laser produced boron and nitrogen atoms in a condensing argon stream

Abstract

Reactions of pulsed laser produced B and N atoms at high dilution in argon favored diboron species. At low laser power with minimum radiation, the dominant reaction with N2 gave BBNN (3Π). At higher laser power, reactions of N atoms contributed the B2N (2B2), BNB (2Σu+), NNBN (1Σ+), and BNBN (3Π) species. These new transient molecules were identified from mixed isotopic patterns, isotopic shifts, and ab initio calculations of isotopic spectra.