Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectra of N 32 S and N 34 S have been recorded in the range of 35700-40200 cm −1 . The radical was generated by a pulsed dc discharge of a mixture of SF 6 and N 2 under a supersonic free jet condition. All the 16 observed bands of N 32 S radicals have been assigned, among which 12 bands belong to three transition progressions (v′=0-4, 0), (v′=1-4, 1) and (v′=2-4, 2) from the X 2 Π ground state to the B′ 2 Σ + upper state and the rest correspond to (9, 0), (10, 0), (11, 0) and (12, 0) bands of B 2 Π-X 2 Π transition, respectively. Analysis of the rotationally resolved spectra yields exhaustive spectroscopic constants of both the X 2 Π ground state and the B′ 2 Σ + excited state. The electronic transition bands of the isotopic molecule N 34 S have been rotationally analyzed for the first time and the rotational constants of the ground and upper states have been determined simultaneously.
NS, REMPI, spectrumRadicals have great influence on chemical reactions for their high reactive activity. The reactions in atmospheric chemistry and combustion chemistry involve numerous elementary processes and are controlled by them, in which radicals play important roles of an organizer and an executor. The unpaired electron of radicals induces their high reactive activity and thus brings on the particular spectral characters of them. In chemical reactions, the state of radicals is usually confirmed by the spectral information. So the research on the spectra of radicals provides the foundation of the whole chemistry studies on radicals. As the sulfur-containing compound is one of the main contaminations in atmosphere, the spectral research on sulfur-containing radicals is of great significance in many fields such as atmospheric chemistry, and combustion chemistry.In common with the isovalent molecular NO that has been studied extensively, the NS radical possesses a large number of valence and Rydberg states. The ground state of NS is 2 Π r and has a valent electronic configuration of 7σ 2 2π 4 3π 1 . The first spectroscopic detection of the NS radical in laboratory was made in 1932 by Fowler and Bakker [1] , who observed two bands of A-X and C-X systems between 2300 and 2700 Å in emission. Later, studies on NS have been carried out in succession by experiment [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and theory [19][20][21][22] . Especially in the work by Jenouvrier and his co-workers [5][6][7] , a thorough emission spectroscopic study was performed in the range of 1750-5650 Å. They observed all the low-lying states including X among which the C, E, J and F states were identified as Rydberg states. Most of the work was carried out in emission and only Chiu's [10] and Jeffries's [17] groups reported the work in absorption. The former studied C 2 Σ + state in emission and absorption, and the latter observed the LIF excitation spectra of A 2 Σ, B 2 Π and C 2 Σ + . In 1991, Barnes et al. [18] studied the F 2 Δ Rydberg state by REMPI spectroscopy firstly. Compare...