Spin-Orbit Coupling and Potential Energy Functions of Ar2(+) and Kr2(+) by High-Resolution Photoelectron Spectroscopy and ab Initio Quantum Chemistry.

The dependence of the spin-orbit-coupling constant of the six low-lying electronic states of Ar2(+) and Kr2(+) on the internuclear distance R has been calculated ab initio. The spin-orbit-coupling constant varies by about 10% over the range of internuclear distances relevant for the interpretation of the high-resolution photoelectron spectra of Ar2 and Kr2 and can be accurately represented by a Morse-type function for the states of ungerade electronic symmetry and by an exponentially decreasing function for the states of gerade symmetry. The spin-orbit-coupling constant is larger than the asymptotic value (at R → ∞) for the gerade states and smaller for the ungerade states. The calculated R-dependent spin-orbit-coupling constants were used to derive a new set of potential energy functions for the low-lying electronic states of Ar2(+) and Kr2(+) and to quantify the errors resulting from the widely used approach consisting of approximating the spin-orbit-coupling constant by its asymptotic value. The effects of the R dependence on the potential energy functions of the six low-lying electronic states of the homonuclear rare-gas dimer ions are found to be very small for Ar2(+) (and by inference also for Ne2(+)) but significant for Kr2(+). The shifts arising in calculations of the potential energy functions from a neglect of the R dependence of the spin-orbit-coupling constant are the result of the interplay between the differences between the binding energies of the relevant (2)Π and (2)Σ(+) states, the magnitude of the spin-orbit-coupling constant, and the magnitude and sign of the deviations between the R-dependent spin-orbit-coupling constant and its asymptotic value at large internuclear distances.