Magnetic circular dichroism studies of matrix-isolated atoms: excited state spin-orbit coupling constant reduction of copper in the noble gases

The absorption and magnetic circular dichroism spectra of the 2P←2S transition of matrix-isolated copper atoms have been measured in krypton and xenon matrices. A dramatic reversal in the MCD term pattern is observed. From a spectral band moment analysis it is shown that: (1) noncubic lattice cage vibrational motions are more important than cubic ones in contributing to the observed bandwidths and (2) the Cu excited state spin-orbit coupling constant (λ) in krypton is reduced to 57% of its gas phase value, whereas in xenon it is reduced to −14% of its gas phase value. Calculations using the Moran model show that the excited state geometry of the metal/rare gas cage is distorted via the Jahn–Teller effect in opposite ways in krypton and xenon matrices. The negative sign of λ in xenon reveals a reversal in the order of the 2P state spin-orbit multiplets. Neither this reversal nor the reduction of λ in krypton can be accounted for by the Jahn–Teller effect. We attribute the spin-orbit constant reduction to the overlap of the Cu 4p orbital with the np of the rare gas matrix cage atoms. The calculated spin-orbit reduction factors (in Ar, Kr, and Xe) agree well with the experimental ones if a contracted Cu 4p orbital is used. In the same way the ground state g factor shift with matrix atom type, observed by Kasai and McLeod, is semiquantitatively accounted for by calculation of the overlaps between the Cu 4s orbital and the np orbitals of the rare gas cage atoms.