Femtosecond Photodissociation Dynamics by Velocity Map Imaging. The Methyl Iodide Case

Abstract

The introduction of time-resolved measurements in the femtosecond time-scale using velocity map imaging techniques of charged particles (ions and photoelectrons) in combination with resonant multiphoton ionization of the fragments for the study of the photodissociation dynamics of small polyatomic molecules is reviewed. A typical experiment consists of the measurement of a sequence of images, whose analysis requires in most cases sophisticated multidimensional fitting methods to extract all the relevant time-resolved information contained in the images. In particular, the application of these techniques to the study of the direct photodissociation (A band) and electronic predissociation (B band) of methyl iodide along with the detection and characterization of transient species and the study of cluster dissociation, as a case example for femtosecond velocity map imaging, are presented and discussed. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.