Improved rest frequencies for the submillimetre-wave spectrum of SiN

Abstract

The submillimetre-wave spectrum of the SiN radical has been investigated in the laboratory using a source-modulation microwave spectrometer equipped with a negative glow discharge cell. SiN was produced in a SiCl4/N 2 discharge plasma. Twenty-one new fine and hyperfine components up to N = 17-16 were observed reaching a frequency as high as 740 GHz. The new laboratory measurements provide much improved rest frequencies in the submillimetre spectral region useful for the identification of SiN lines in hot core sources and circumstellar shells. © ESO 2006.