The λ3400 bands of PH and PD

Abstract

The phosphorus hydride band at λ3400 was first reported by Geuter (1907) in an account of an investigation of the spectra associated with phosphorus. It was obtained with a discharge tube containing phosphorus in addition to hydrogen. Pearse (1930) photographed the band with high dispersion, showed that the electronic transition involved was of the type 3 Π i → 3 Σ , and attributed the band to the molecule PH. Since this analysis further theoretical work on this type of transition has been published by Hebb (1936), and calculations of the rotational constants for the 3 Π state of PH have been made by Gilbert (1936) and Budo (1936). A study of the distribution of intensity in the rotational structure has been made by Noland and Jenkins (1936). The present paper is devoted to a study of the changes produced in the band structure by replacing the hydrogen in the molecule by deuterium.