A molecular beam optical Stark study of the [15.8] and [16.0] 2Pi1/2-X 4Sigma- (0,0) band systems of rhodium monoxide, RhO.

The SR11(0) and SR11(1) branch features of the [15.8] and [16.0]2Pi1/2-X 4Sigma- (0,0) subband systems of rhodium monoxide, RhO, have been studied at near the natural linewidth limit of resolution by optical Stark spectroscopy using laser induced fluorescence detection. The Stark shifts and splittings were analyzed to produce the magnitude of the permanent electric dipole moment, |mu|, of 3.81(2) D for the X 4Sigma3/2- (v=0) state. The results are compared to density functional theory calculations. Trends in observed values of |mu| across the 4d series of transition metal monoxides are interpreted in terms of simple single configuration molecular orbital correlation diagrams.