THE ELECTRIC-DIPOLE MOMENT AND HYPERFINE INTERACTIONS OF KOH

A molecular beam spectrometer has been used to observe the hyperfine s pectrum and determine the electric dipole moment of the KOH molecule. This EDM had never been measured previously, although theoretical calc ulations had been made. A refined line shape fitting procedure has hel ped make possible this determination from the molecular beam hyperfine spectrum. The value of the EDM, which we found for the ground vibrati onal state, is 7.415+/-0.002 debye. The hyperfine constants, including the potassium nuclear quadrupole, both spin-rotation interactions, an d the tensor and scalar spin-spin interactions have been determined fo r several vibrational states. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.