Rovibronic spectroscopy of PN from first principles

Abstract

We report an ab initio study on the rovibronic spectroscopy of the closed-shell diatomic molecule phosphorous mononitride, PN. The study considers the nine lowest electronic states, $X\,{}^{1}\Sigma^{+}$, $A\,{}^{1}\Pi$, $C\,{}^{1}\Sigma^{-}$, $D\,{}^{1}\Delta$, $E\,{}^{1}\Sigma^{-}$, $a\,{}^{3}\Sigma^{+}$, $b\,{}^{3}\Pi$, $d\,{}^{3}\Delta$ and $e\,{}^{3}\Sigma^{-}$ using high level electronic structure theory and accurate nuclear motion calculations. The ab initio data cover 9 potential energy, 14 spin-orbit coupling, 7 electronic angular momentum coupling, 9 electric dipole moment and 8 transition dipole moment curves. The Duo nuclear motion program is used to solve the coupled nuclear motion Schr\"{o}dinger equations for these nine electronic states and to simulate rovibronic absorption spectra of $^{31}$P$^{14}$N for different temperatures, which are compared to available spectroscopic studies. Lifetimes for all states are calculated and compared to previous results from the literature. The calculated lifetime of the $A\,{}^{1}\Pi$ state shows good agreement with an experimental value from the literature, which is an important quality indicator for the ab initio $A$-$X$ transition dipole moment.