Product energy distributions from the 193 nm photodissociation of NH 3

Abstract

Product energy distributions are reported for 193 nm NH 3 photodissociation. Velocity-aligned Doppler spectroscopy on the H-atom fragment reveals a “cold” kinetic energy distribution, indicating a high degree of NH 2 internal excitation. Data are compared with the trajectory calculations of Rice, Raff and Thompson for NH 3(X̃ 1A 1) dissociation, and the reaction mechanism of Ashfold, Bennett and Dixon is discussed.