Controlling the branching ratio of the photodissociation of aligned Cl 2 at 404 nm

Abstract

Non-resonant infrared Nd 3+:YAG laser pulses at 1.06 μm were used to align chlorine molecules in a cold molecular beam. The degree of alignment was demonstrated by measurement of the velocity anisotropy of the photofragment Cl( 2 P 3/2) atoms from Cl 2( X 1Σ g +)+404 nm→ Cl 2( B 3Π u +,Ω=0)→ Cl( 2 P 3/2)+ Cl( 2 P 1/2) . The branching ratio of the photoexcitation to Cl 2( B 3Π u +,Ω=0) with respect to Cl 2( 1Π u ,Ω=1) was controlled, allowing the selectivity of the two different adiabatic photodissociation channels: Cl( 2 P 3/2)+ Cl( 2 P 1/2) and Cl( 2 P 3/2)+ Cl( 2 P 3/2).