Molecular Dynamics and Photofragment Spectroscopy.
Abstract
During our contract period with the office of Naval Research, we have developed, perfected and applied a new form of molecular spectroscopy to study elementary photodissociation processes. We call this technique photofragment spectroscopy. A beam of molecules is crossed orthogonally with a pulsed beam of photons in a high vacuum, essentially collision free, environment. The molecular fragments resulting from the photon absorption are detected by a time of flight mass spectrometer which is normal to the plane of the molecular and photon beams. The nature of the recoiling fragments may be determined from their mass spectra. By measuring the time taken by each kind of fragment to traverse the known path length to the detector, and using energy and momentum conservation, the energetics of the photodissociative process may be determined. The angular distribution of the recoiling fragments provides information on the symmetry of the excited molecular state, and on the lifetime and molecular dynamics of the dissociating molecule.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA026572
Entities
People
- Kent R. Wilson
Organizations
- University of California, San Diego