Raman spectra of gaseous, liquid, and solid bismuth trichloride. Resonance fluorescence spectra of gaseous BiCl and BiBr

Comparison of the gas-phase Raman spectrum of BiCl3 at 460 °C with that of the solid and the melt shows that strong interactions are operative in the solid and melt, probably chlorine bridges between molecules. Gas-phase Raman data could not be obtained for BiBr3 owing to intense resonance fluorescence from BiBr, a thermal dissociation product. Attempted gas phase Raman studies of BiCl3 above 700 °C resulted in a similar dissociation with analogous fluorescence attributed to BiCl.