Lifetime Measurements of the C3Delta State of TiS and the E3Pi State of TiO.

Lifetime measurements of the C3Delta electronic state of the titanium sulfide molecule and of the E3Pi electronic state of the titanium oxide molecule have been performed using population probing with resonant two-photon ionization in a molecular beam. The lifetimes for the TiS C3Delta1 state were found to be 243 +/- 7 ns, 278 +/- 9 ns, and 286 +/- 15 ns for the v = 0, v = 1, and v = 2 levels, respectively. The lifetime for the TiO E3Pi0 state was found to be 4.9 +/- 0.2 µs for the v = 0 level. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Studies of the fifth-order nonlinear susceptibility of ultraviolet-grade fused silica.

Femtosecond transient absorption pump-probe spectroscopy has been used to study the third- and fifth-order nonlinear susceptibility of UV-grade fused silica. Theoretical simulations support the experimental evidence of interference between the third- and fifth-order contributions to the signal. Approximate values of the second-order nonlinear refractive index n(4) and of the three-photon absorption coefficient gamma are obtained.

The Electric Dipole Moment of the B(1)Pi State of ZrO.

A laser ablation source combined with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been constructed. The static electric field in the mass spectrometer gives rise to a first-order Stark effect splitting from which the permanent electric dipole moment of the B(1)Pi state (v = 0) of (90)ZrO is determined and found to be 3.43 +/- 0.07 D. The X(1)Sigma and B(1)Pi states are further investigated and comparisons with the results from ab initio calculations are made. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.