Crossed beam study of the I2+F2→IF(B)+IF(X) reaction: spectrum of the chemiluminescence and rovibrational distribution of IF(B)

The chemiluminescence of IF produced by the I2+F2 reaction has been the subject of several works. In this paper, we present a study of this reaction under crossed beam conditions. The chemiluminescence spectrum has been recorded at several collision energies and the rovibrational distribution of the IF molecules has been deduced from the spectra by a linear least square fit. This distribution presents a strong vibrational inversion and extends to very high J values. It is very different from all the previously reported rovibrational distributions observed in the IF chemiluminescence. This result confirms that at least two different mechanisms contribute to populate the IF B state in the I2+F2 reaction, and our experiment is the first one to give the spectrum of the I2+F2 chemiluminescent reaction occurring in a single collision regime.