Dissociation of O2 induced by selective K-shell excitation

Abstract

Dissociation of O2 stimulated by soft x-ray absorption has been studied by using a monochromatized synchrotron radiation and a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The parent molecular ion O+2 was formed only at 531 eV (excitation of 1s→1πg), and a fragment ion O+ had the highest intensity in all the energies giving core–hole states. The measured time-of-flight spectra were reproduced by a simulation calculation, which provided kinetic energy distributions of O+ and O++. The dissociation pathways from the core–hole states of O2 were discussed using the obtained kinetic energy distribution and ion intensity ratios as well as Auger electron spectra in the literature.