N(2D) Product Velocity Mapped Imaging in the VUV Photolysis of Nitrous Oxide at 118.2 nm

Abstract

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization with time-of-flight product imaging of the <TEX>$N(^2D)$</TEX> atoms has been used to study the <TEX>$N_2O$</TEX> photodissociation at 118.2 nm and the two-photon dissociation at 268.9 nm. These imaging experiments allowed the determination of the total kinetic energy distribution of the <TEX>$NO(X^2{\prod})$</TEX> and <TEX>$N(^2D_{5/2})$</TEX> products. The <TEX>$NO(X^2{\prod})$</TEX> fragments resulting from the photodissociation processes are produced in highly vibrationally excited states. The two-photon photodissociation process yields a broad <TEX>$NO(X^2{\prod})$</TEX> vibrational energy distribution, while the 118.2 nm dissociation appears to produce a vibrational distribution sharply peaked at <TEX>$NO(X^2{\prod},\;{\nu}=14)$</TEX>.