We applied the technique of corona excited supersonic expansion (CESE) to generate a vibronically excited but jet-cooled 3,4-difluorobenzyl radical from 3,4-difluorotoluene seeded in a large amount of inert carrier gas helium. The well-resolved vibronic emission spectrum of the radical, exhibiting an excellent S/N, was recorded in the visible region using a long path monochromator for the first time. From an analysis of the spectrum, we obtained the electronic energy of the D-1 -> D-0 transition as well as the frequencies of the vibrational modes in the ground electronic state by comparison with those from an ab initio calculation. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.