A calculation of the rovibronic energies and spectrum of the B1A1 electronic state of SiH2.

The B1A1 electronic state of silylene (SiH2) is the second excited singlet state of the molecule and, like the analogous c state of methylene (CH2), it is quasilinear with symmetry 1sigmag+ at linearity. This state dissociates to Si(1D) + H2(1sigmag+). At equilibrium, the B state of SiH2 has an energy that we calculate to be 0.71 eV above that of the dissociation products. However, there is a barrier to dissociation that allows quasibound rovibrational levels to occur, and some have been observed recently [Y. Muramoto et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 154302 (2005)]. Starting with our analytical ab initio potential-energy surface, we adjusted it in a fitting to the experimental term values in order to determine the optimum potential-energy function in the bound region. This potential has a C2v equilibrium structure with a SiH bond length of 1.459 angstroms and a bond angle of 165.4 degrees; the barrier to linearity is only 129 cm(-1). Using the optimized potential-energy surface we calculate B-state term values, and using our calculated y and z dipole moment surfaces, we simulate the rotation-vibration spectrum of the state in order to assist in the detection of the matrix isolation spectrum.