The formation of AlF by radiative association

The formation of the aluminium monofluoride molecule AlF by radiative association of the Al\udand F atoms is estimated. The radiative association of Al(2P) and F(2P) atoms is found to be\uddominated by the approach along theA1 potential energy curve accompanied by spontaneous\udemission into theX1 \ud+ ground state of the AlF. For temperatures ranging from 300 to 14 000 K,\udthe rate coefficients are found to vary from 1.35×10−17 to 9.31×10−16 cm3 s−1, respectively.\udThese values indicate that only a small amount of AlF molecules can be formed by radiative\udassociation in the inner envelope of carbon-rich stars and other hostile environmentsFAPES