Photoassociation of⁸⁵Rb atoms into 0u⁺states near the 5S+5P atomic limits

New photoassociation data on the 0u+ levels of Rb2 below the 5S+5P1/2 limit are combined with older data (Cline et al 1994 Phys. Rev. Lett. 73 632) in a fit to potentials and spin–orbit functions. The P1/2 data exhibit oscillations in the B(v) values due to coupling between the two 0u+ series, as modelled accurately by a coupled potentials approach. The fitted value for the C3 dispersion parameter from the combined data agrees well with the value derived from the pure long-range 0g− state.