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 N(2D) atoms has been used to study the N2O 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 distributions of the NO(X2Π) and N(2D5/2) products. The NO(X2Π) fragments resulting from the photodissociation processes are produced in highly vibrationally excited states. The two-photon photodissociation process yields a broad NO(X2Π) vibrational energy distribution, while the 118.2 nm dissociation appears to produce a vibrational distribution sharply peaked at NO(X2Π, ν=14).