Photodissociation Branching Ratios of 12C^16O from 108000 cm^-1 to 113200 cm^-1 Measured by Two-Color VUV-VUV Laser Pump-Probe Time-Slice Velocity-Map Ion Imaging Method:Observation of Channels for Producing O(1D)

The photoabsorption and photodissociation of carbon monoxide(CO)in the vacuum ultraviolet(VUV)region is one of the most important photochemical processes in the interstellar medium,thus it has attracted numerous experimental and theoretical studies.Here,we employed the two-color VUV-VUV laser pump-probe time-slice velocity-map ion imaging method to measure the relative branching ratios[C(3P0)+O(1D)]/{[C(3P0)+O(3P)]+[C(3P0)+O(1D)]}and[C(3P2)+O(1D)]/{[C(3P2)+O(3P)]+[C(3P2)+O(1D)]}in the VUV photoexcitation energy range of 108000-113200 cm^−1.Here,one tunable VUV laser beam is used to excite CO to speci c rovibronic states,and a second independently tunable VUV laser beam is used to state-selectively ionize C(3P0)and C(3P2)for detection.State-selective photoionization through the 1VUV+1UV/visible resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization scheme has greatly enhanced the detection sensitivity,which makes many new weak absorption bands observable in the current study.The branching ratio measurement shows that the spin-forbidden channels C(3P0)+O(1D)and C(3P2)+O(1D)only open at several discrete narrow energy windows.This might be caused by certain accidental resonanceenhanced spin-orbit interactions between the directly excited Rydberg states and valence states of triplet type which nally dissociate into the spin-forbidden channels.

Quantum State-to-State Vacuum Ultraviolet Photodissociation Dynamics of Small Molecules

The present review focused on selected, recent experimental progress of photodissociation dynamics of small molecules covering the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) range from 6 eV to 20 eV. These advancements come about due to the available laser based VUV light sources along with the developments of advanced experimental techniques, including the velocitymap imaging (VMI), H-atom Rydberg tagging time-of-flight (HRTOF) techniques, as well as the two-color tunable VUV-VUV laser pump-probe detection method. The applications of these experimental techniques have allowed VUV photodissociation studies of many diatomic and triatomic molecules to quantum state-to-state in detail. To highlight the recent accomplishments, we have summarized the results on several important molecular species, including H2 (D2, HD), CO, N2, NO, O2, H2O (D2O, HOD), CO2, and N2O. The detailed VUV photodissociation studies of these molecules are of astrochemical and atmospheric relevance. Since molecular photodissociation initiated by VUV excitation is complex and is often governed by multiple electronic potential energy surfaces, the unraveling of the complex dissociation dynamics requires state-to-state cross section measurements. The newly constructed Dalian Coherent Light Source (DCLS), which is capable of generating coherent VUV radiation with unprecedented brightness in the range of 50-150 nm, promises to propel the photodissociation experiment to the next level.