Photodissociation of doubly excited states of molecular hydrogen studied by polarization measurement of Lyman-α fluorescence

Abstract

The polarization anisotropy of Lyman-α fluorescence in the photodissociation of the doubly excited states of H2 has been measured in the 27–38 eV energy range. It has been calculated taking into account the dissociation probabilities of the various molecular states involved in the process and the depolarization due to collisional effects. The agreement between experiment and theory is very good; it shows the importance of interferences and gives confidence in the analysis of the process. The fluorescence polarization anisotropy has been calculated classically in the case of a dissociation leading to H(2pπ) + H(2pσ) excited fragments.