Laser-Induced Fluorescence of Singly Ionized Iodine

Easily stored as a solid, iodine is a being considered as a replacement for xenon propellant in electric propulsion systems for spacecraft. One challenge in assessing the performance of iodine-based thrusters has been a of lack spectroscopic schemes for measuring the iodine ion exhaust velocity and flux distribution in the plume. A new laser-induced fluorescence scheme is demonstrated for singly ionized atomic iodine (I II). The hyperfine structure of the and states used in the scheme is apparent, and likely values of the magnetic dipole hyperfine coefficients are presented for both electronic states.