Observation of the visible fluorescence of the SiF radical in SiF4 gas irradiated by the pulsed output of a CO2 laser leads to the conclusion that the molecules are dissociated into electronically excited fragments by the action of the intense laser field. A clear distinction is observed between the fluorescence produced through this process and that associated with thermalization of the incident energy.
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Isenor et al. (1973) studied this question.