Three-Body Dissociation Dynamics of Excited States of O3(D2O)

Abstract

In these experiments, the dynamics of the three-body dissociative photodetachment of O3-(D2O) at 258 nm are directly probed for the first time. Photodetachment of a negatively charged precursor, with coincident energy analysis of the photoelectron, allows production of energy-selected excited-state O3(D2O) complexes. By measurement of the laboratory velocities and recoil angles of the O + O2 + D2O products simultaneously, a kinematically complete description of the three-body dissociation dynamics of O3(D2O) is obtained. The results show that clustering of D2O to O3- stabilizes the system by 0.75 ± 0.09 eV. Photodetachment to the triplet states of O3 in the complex results in three-body dissociation, with no clear evidence observed for quenching or intracluster reaction in the complex. The molecular-frame differential cross section (MF-DCS), showing how the three products scatter in the molecular frame, is presented and discussed in light of DFT calculations of possible equilibrium geometries of the parent O3-(D2O) anion.