We report on a laser-spectroscopic study of the CaH and CaD radicals in a supersonic beam, generated in a
reaction of laser-sputtered Ca atoms and a pulsed beam of H2 or D2, seeded in helium. The rotational levels
of the electronic ground-state X
2Σ+ (υ‘ ‘
= 0, N‘ ‘ ≤ 10) were probed by two-color resonance ionization mass
spectrometry(1 + 1‘) resonance-enhanced multiphonon ionization (REMPI)via the intermediate B
2Σ+
(υ
‘ = 0, 1) rovibronic levels. Rotational constants for the B-state were derived, including the spin splitting
parameters γ
υ
‘, which have been determined in the case of CaD for the first time: γ0 = −0.409(7) cm-1 and
γ1 = −0.398(8) cm-1 for CaD (B
Σ+), and γ0 = −0.792(15) cm-1 and γ1 = −0.765(16) cm-1 for CaH (B
2Σ+). The comparison between the rotational level energies of the F1 and F2 spin substates of the two
isotopomers revealed the onset of perturbation in CaH B
2Σ+ (υ
‘ = 0), at N‘ ≅ 0, by the presence of the
vibronic state A
2Π (υ
‘ = 1). Although this perturbation is documented for υ‘ ≥ 1, it had not been previously
recognized for υ‘ = 0. The rotational populations observed in X
2Σ+ (υ‘ ‘ = 0) for the two isotopomers could
be associated with different average rotational temperature values for CaD and CaH: T
rot = 52 (± 7) and T
rot
= 85 (± 11) K, respectively.