Stern–Gerlach study of nitric oxide
Abstract
The Stern–Gerlach (SG) deflection spectra of NO were studied at different jet velocities and at different electronic temperatures of molecules in the jet. It was shown that the biggest SG deflections are due to the upper spin–orbit component of the ground state, the 2Π3/2 state. SG splitting of the lower spin–orbit component, 2Π1/2, which should be zero in the pure Hund's case (a) model, was also observed.