Structure and Properties of High Temperature Species Related to Ablative Re-Entry and Solid Propellants.

The report describes electron-spin-resonance ESR and optical spectroscopic investigations of high-temperature molecules. These species have all been observed while trapped in solid argon or neon at temperatures near 4K, i.e., using the matrix-isolation technique. The molecules investigated, and the spectroscopic method employed, are carbon molecules C4, C5, C6, C9, and their oxides C2O, C3O, in the infrared rare-earth diatomic and triatomic oxides in the infrared and visible regions alkaline-earth diatomic fluorides MgF, CaF, SrF, BaF in ESR diatomic hydrides BeH, MgH, CaH, SrH, BaH, ZnH, CdH, HgH, PdH in ESR. Contributions were also made to the theory of spin-doubling in molecules and to the theory of polytypism in solid silicon carbide. Author