DETERMINATION OF THE HYPERFINE-STRUCTURE OF THE B-2-PI(1 2) STATE OF NO FROM QUANTUM BEAT SPECTROSCOPY/

An extensive set of hyperfine splittings for the first five vibrationa l states of the B (II1/2)-I-2 state of NO has been accurately measured using quantum beat spectroscopy. Absolute assignment of the quantum b eat signals is achieved through a novel detuning technique which uses the relative signal intensities as the laser is scanned off the rotati onal line to determine the energy ordering of transitions within the s pectral linewidth. The Frosch and Foley hyperfine parameters which are determined in fits to the data show smooth variations with vibrationa l level but are significantly different from the ground state.