The production of
D
S
+
mesons in
B meson decays, and in
q
[`(q)]\bar q
continuum events, has been studied with the ARGUS detector at the
e
+
e
– storage ring DORIS II. In addition to the measurement of inclusive
D
S
+
production in
[`(B)]\bar B
decays, all eight two-body decay modes
B
D
S
(*)
D
(*) have been measured with branching ratios between 1% and 3%. By comparing our inclusive and exclusive results to predictions of heavy quark effective theory, a value of (267±28) MeV × [2.7%/BR(
D
s
+
+)]
1/2 is obtained for the weak decay constant f
D
S
(*)
, averaged over
D
S
+
and
D
S
*+
mesons.
Supported by the German Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologic, under contract number 054DO51P
Supported by the German Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, under contract number 054ER112P
Supported by the German Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, under contract number 055 HD21P
Supported in part by the Walter C. Sumner Foundation
Supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada
Supported by the German Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, under contract number 054KA 17P
Supported by the Department of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia and the Internationales Büro KfA, Jülich
Supported by the Swedish Research Council
Deceased
Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, under contract DE-AS09-80ER 10690