SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF THE $E^{1}\Sigma_{g}^{+}$ ``SHELF'' STATE IN $^{7}Li_{2}$

Abstract

The $E^{1}\Sigma_{g}{^{+}}$ ``shelf'' state of the $^{7}Li_{2}$ molecule was investigated using a pulsed optical optical double resonance technique. The measurements cover the vibrational levels in the range $0 < v < 29$ including the shelf region around $13 < v < 15$. Molecular constants have been determined. Using an inverted perturbation approach an effective potential energy curve has been generated within the adiabatic approximation whose quantum mechanical energy eigenvalues reproduce the measured term values to within $0.113 cm^{-1}$ for the range $0 < v < 23$ and $0 < J < 47$.