High-redshift quasars found in Sloan Digital Sky Survey commissioning data. VI. Sloan digital sky survey spectrograph observations

We present data for over 100 high-redshift quasars found in approximate to 700 deg(2) by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), using automated selectio n algorithms applied to SDSS imaging data and with spectroscopic confirmati on obtained during routine spectroscopic observations by the Sloan 2.5 m te lescope. The SDSS spectra cover the wavelength range 3900-9200 Angstrom at a spectral resolution of 1800 and have AZ been obtained for 116 quasars wit h redshifts greater than 3.94; 92 of these objects were previously uncatalo ged, significantly increasing the current tally of published z > 4 quasars. The paper also reports observations of seven additional new z [4 quasars; all were selected from the SDSS imaging survey and spectroscopically confir med with observations by the Apache Point Observatory's 3.5 m telescope or the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The i' magnitudes of the quasars range from 18. 03 to 20.68. Of the 99 new objects reported in this paper, 13 appear to be broad absorption line quasars. Five quasars, including one object at a reds hift of 5.11, have 20 cm peak flux densities greater than 1 mJy. Two of the quasars, both at z approximate to 4.5, have very weak emission lines; one of these objects is a radio source. Nineteen of the newly discovered object s have redshifts above 4.6, and the maximum redshift is z = 5.41; among obj ects reported to date, the latter is the third highest redshift AGN and is penultimate in redshift among luminous quasars.