Absorption spectroscopy of heavy alkaline earth metals Ba and Sr in rare gas matrices—CCSD(T) calculations and atomic site occupancies

Isolation of the heavier alkaline earth metals Ba and Sr in the solid rare gases (RGs) Ar, Kr, and Xe is analysed with absorption spectroscopy and interpreted partly with the assistance of ab initio calculations of the diatomic M ⋅ RG ground state interaction potentials. The y1P←a1S resonance transitions in the visible spectral region are used to compare the isolation conditions of these two metal atom systems and calcium. Complex absorption bands were recorded in all three metal atom systems even after extensive sample annealing. Coupled cluster calculations conducted on the ground states of the nine M ⋅ RG diatomics (M = Ca, Sr, and Ba; RG = Ar, Kr, and Xe) at the coupled cluster single, double, and non-iterative triple level of theory revealed long bond lengths (>5 A) and shallow bound regions (<130 cm−1). All of the M ⋅ RG diatomics have bond lengths considerably longer than those of the rare gas dimers, with the consequence that isolation of these metal atoms in a single substitutional site of the so...