State-to-state reaction dynamics of CH3I photodissociation at 304 nm

The detailed reaction dynamics of CH(3)I photodissociation at 304 nm were studied by using high-resolution long time-delayed core-sampling photofragment translation spectroscopy. The vibrational state distributions of the photofragment, i.e., CH(3), are directly resolved due to the high kinetic resolution of this experiment for the first time. CH(3) radicals produced from I((3)Q(0+)), I((1)Q(1) <--( 3)Q(0+)), and I((3)Q(1)) channels are populated in different vibrational state distributions. The I((3)Q(0+)) and I((3)Q(1)) channels show only progressions in the nu2'(a2") umbrella bending mode, and the I((1)Q(1) <-- (3)Q(0+)) channel shows both progression in the nu2' umbrella bending mode and a small amount of excitation in the nu1'(a1') C-H stretching mode. The photodissociation processes from the vibrational hot band of CH(3)I (upsilon3 = 1, upsilon3 = 2) were also detected, primarily because of the absorption probability from the vibrational excited states, i.e., hot bands are relatively enhanced. Photofragments from the hot bands of CH(3)I show a cold vibrational distribution compared to that from the vibrational ground state of CH(3)I. The I* quantum yield and the curve crossing possibility were also studied for the ground vibrational state of CH(3)I. The potential energy at the curve crossing point was calculated to be 32 790 cm(-1) by using the one-dimensional Landau-Zener model.     

An ab initio study of the CH3I photodissociation. I. Potential energy surfaces

The multireference spin-orbit (SO) configuration interaction (CI) method in its Lambda-S contracted SO-CI version is employed to calculate two-dimensional potential energy surfaces for the ground and low-lying excited states of CH3I relevant to the photodissociation process in its A absorption band. The computed equilibrium geometry for the X A1 ground state, as well as vibrational frequencies for the nu2 umbrella and nu3 symmetric stretch modes, are found to be in good agreement with available experimental data. The 3Q0+ state converging to the excited I(2P1/2o) limit is found to possess a shallow minimum of 850 cm(-1) strongly shifted to larger internuclear distances (RC-I approximately 6.5a0) relative to the ground state. This makes a commonly employed single-exponent approximation for analysis of the CH3I fragmentation dynamics unsuitable. The 4E(3A1) state dissociating to the same atomic limit is calculated to lie too high in the Franck-Condon region to have any significant impact on the A-band absorption. The computed vertical excitation energies for the 3Q1, 3Q0+, and 1Q states indicate that the A-band spectrum must lie approximately between 33,000 and 44,300 cm(-1), i.e., between 225 and 300 nm. This result is in very good agreement with the experimental findings. The lowest Rydberg states are computed to lie at >or=49,000 cm(-1) and correspond to the ...a(1)2n3a1(6sI) leading configuration. They are responsible for the vacuum ultraviolet absorption lines found experimentally beyond the A-band spectrum at 201.1 nm (49,722 cm(-1)) and higher.     

Slice imaging and wave packet study of the photodissociation of CH3I in the blue edge of the A-band: evidence of reverse 3Q0 ← 1Q1 non-adiabatic dynamics

The photodissociation of CH(3)I in the blue edge (217-230 nm) of the A-band has been studied using a combination of slice imaging and resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) detection of the CH(3) fragment in the vibrational ground state (ν = 0). The profiles of the CH(3) (ν = 0) kinetic energy distributions and the photofragment anisotropies are interpreted in terms of the contribution of the excited surfaces involved in the photodissociation process, as well as the probability of non-adiabatic curve crossing between the (3)Q(0) and (1)Q(1) states. In the studied region, unlike in the central part of the A-band where absorption to the (3)Q(0) state dominates, the I((2)P(J)), with J = 1/2, 3/2, in correlation with CH(3) (ν = 0) kinetic energy distributions show clearly two contributions of different anisotropy, signature of the competing adiabatic and non-adiabatic dynamics, whose ratio strongly depends on the photolysis wavelength. The experimental results are compared with multisurface wave packet calculations carried out using the available ab initio potential energy surfaces, transition moments, and non-adiabatic couplings, employing a reduced dimensionality model. A good qualitative agreement is found between experiment and theory and both show evidence of reverse (3)Q(0)←(1)Q(1) non-adiabatic dynamics at the bluest excitation wavelengths both in the fragment kinetic energy and angular distributions.     

Photodissociation of HI and DI: testing models for electronic structure via polarization of atomic photofragments

The photodissociation dynamics of HI and DI are examined using time-dependent wave-packet techniques. The orientation and alignment parameters aQ(K) (p) are determined as a function of photolysis energy for the resulting ground-state I(2P(3/2)) and excited-state I(2P(1/2)) atoms. The aQ(K) (p) parameters describe the coherent and incoherent contributions to the angular momentum distributions from the A 1pi(1), a 3pi(1), and t 3sigma(1) electronic states accessed by perpendicular excitation and the a 3pi(0+) state accessed by a parallel transition. The outcomes of the dynamics based on both shifted ab initio results and three empirical models for the potential-energy curves and transition dipole moments are compared and contrasted. It is demonstrated that experimental measurement of the aQ(K) (p) parameters for the excitation from the vibrational ground state (upsilon=0) would be able to distinguish between the available models for the HI potential-energy curves and transition dipole moments. The differences between the aQ(K) (p) parameters for the excitation from upsilon=0 stand in sharp contrast to the scalar properties, i.e., total cross section and I* branching fraction, which require experimental measurement of photodissociation from excited vibrational states (upsilon>0) to distinguish between the models.     

Imaging the photodissociation of CH3SH in the first and second absorption bands: the CH3(X2A1)+SH(X2Pi) channel

The CH3(X2A1)+SH(X2Pi) channel of the photodissociation of CH3SH has been investigated at several wavelengths in the first 1 1A"<--X 1A' and second 2 1A"<--X1A' absorption bands by means of velocity map imaging of the CH3 fragment. A fast highly anisotropic (beta=-1+/-0.1) CH3(X2A1) signal has been observed in the images at all the photolysis wavelengths studied, which is consistent with a direct dissociation process from an electronically excited state by cleavage of the C-S bond in the parent molecule. From the analysis of the CH3 images, vibrational populations of the SH(X2Pi) counterfragment have been extracted. In the second absorption band, the SH fragment is formed with an inverted vibrational distribution as a consequence of the forces acting in the crossing from the bound 2 1A" second excited state to the unbound 1 1A" first excited state. The internal energy of the SH radical increases as the photolysis wavelength decreases. In the case of photodissociation via the first excited state, the direct production of CH3 leaves the SH counterfragment with little internal excitation. Moreover, at the longer photolysis wavelengths corresponding to excitation to the 1 1A" state, a slower anisotropic CH3 channel has been observed (beta=-0.8+/-0.1) consistent with a two step photodissociation process, where the first step corresponds to the production of CH3S(X2E) radicals via cleavage of the S-H bond in CH3SH, followed by photodissociation of the nascent CH3S radicals yielding CH3(X2A1)+S(X3P0,1,2).     

Ab initio configuration interaction study of the B- and C-band photodissociation of methyl iodide

Multireference spin-orbit configuration interaction calculations have been carried out for the valence and low-lying Rydberg states of CH(3)I. Potential energy surfaces along the C-I dissociation coordinate (minimal energy paths with respect to the umbrella angle) have been obtained as well as transition moments for excitation of the Rydberg states. It is shown that the B and C absorption bands of CH(3)I are dominated by the perpendicular (3)R(1),(1)R?(E)←X??A(1) transitions, while the (3)R(2)(E),?(3)R(0(+) )(A(1))←X??A(1) transitions are very weak. It is demonstrated that the bound Rydberg states of the B and C bands are predissociated due to the interaction with the repulsive E and A(2) components of the (3)A(1) state, with the (3)A(1)(E) state being the main decay channel. It is predicted that the only possibility to obtain the I((2)P(3/2)) ground state atoms from the CH(3)I photodissociation in the B band is by interaction of the (3)R(1)(E) state with the repulsive (1)Q(E) valence state at excitation energies above 55,000 cm(-1). The calculated ab initio data are used to analyze the influence of the Rydberg state vibrational excitation on the decay process. It is shown that, in contrast to intuition, excitation of the ν(3) C-I stretching mode supresses the predissociation, whereas the ν(6) rocking vibration enhances the predissociation rate.     

State-to-state correlated study of CD3I photodissociation at 266 and 304 nm

High-resolution photofragment translational spectroscopy is used in this work to measure the translational and internal energy distributions in the CD3 and iodine fragments produced from the photodissociation of CD3I at 266 and 304 nm. Channel selected detection, via resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization, combined with one-dimensional core sampling provides detailed information about vibrational state distributions of the CD3 fragments. The vibrational state distributions of CD3 fragments in the I*(2P12) channel have a propensity of nu2 ' umbrella bending mode with a maximum at nu2 ' = 1 for 266 nm photodissociation. For I*(2P12) channel at 304 nm photodissociation, vibrational state distributions of CD3 fragment have a maximum in the vibrational ground state. For the I(2P32) channel (1Q1 <-- 3Q(0+)), nu2 ' umbrella bending vibrational distribution is measured as the predominant vibrational mode but has a much broader distribution when compared to that of the I* channel. The vibrational state distributions of the CD3 fragment produced from the perpendicular transition, i.e., 3Q1, which was determined at 304 nm photodissociation, has a maximum at nu2 ' = 1. The curve crossing possibility between the 1Q1 and 3Q(0+) adiabatic potentials is determined as 0.19 for 266 and 0.85 for 304 nm. The trend in reaction dynamics in 266 and 304 nm photodissociation of CD3I is compared with theoretical calculations. A bond dissociation energy D0(C-I) = 56.60+/-0.5 kcal/mol was derived by applying laws of energy conservation.     

氯碘甲烷在A带的光解动力学

利用离子速度影像方法结合共振增强多光子电离(REMPI)技术研究了氯碘甲烷在A带的光解机理. 从266和277 nm的I*(5p 2P1/2)和I(5p 2P3/2)离子速度影像获得了碎片的平动能分布和角度分布. I和I*的平动能分布呈单高斯型, 可用软自由基近似来解释. I和I*是在排斥的势能面上直接解离产生的. 实验得到的各向异性参数β证实分子受激发后主要产生3Q0态, 并且3Q0和1Q1态之间存在非绝热转移. 波长越短, 这种非绝热转移越强. 在235 nm附近, Cl和Cl*各向同性的离子影像说明氯原子来自于CH2ICl的二次解离过程, 即CH2ICl先解离产生CH2Cl自由基, 自由基再解离产生氯原子.     

High-resolution slice imaging of quantum state-to-state photodissociation of methyl bromide

The photodissociation of rotationally state-selected methyl bromide is studied in the wavelength region between 213 and 235 nm using slice imaging. A hexapole state selector is used to focus a single (JK=11) rotational quantum state of the parent molecule, and a high speed slice imaging detector measures directly the three-dimensional recoil distribution of the methyl fragment. Experiments were performed on both normal (CH(3)Br) and deuterated (CD(3)Br) parent molecules. The velocity distribution of the methyl fragment shows a rich structure, especially for the CD(3) photofragment, assigned to the formation of vibrationally excited methyl fragments in the nu(1) and nu(4) vibrational modes. The CH(3) fragment formed with ground state Br((2)P(3/2)) is observed to be rotationally more excited, by some 230-340 cm(-1), compared to the methyl fragment formed with spin-orbit excited Br((2)P(1/2)). Branching ratios and angular distributions are obtained for various methyl product states and they are observed to vary with photodissociation energy. The nonadiabatic transition probability for the (3)Q(0+)-->(1)Q(1) transition is calculated from the images and differences between the isotopes are observed. Comparison with previous non-state-selected experiments indicates an enhanced nonadiabatic transition probability for state-selected K=1 methyl bromide parent molecules. From the state-to-state photodissociation experiments the dissociationenergy for both isotopes was determined, D(0)(CH(3)Br)=23 400+/-133 cm(-1) and D(0)(CD(3)Br)=23 827+/-94 cm(-1).     

A slice imaging and multisurface wave packet study of the photodissociation of CH3I at 304 nm

The role of the conical intersection between the (1)Q(1) and (3)Q(0) excited states in the photodissociation of CH(3)I at 304 nm is investigated drawing a comparison between the adiabatic--through direct absorption to the (3)Q(1) state--and non-adiabatic--via the (1)Q(1)→(3)Q(0) conical intersection--production of I atoms in the ground (2)P(3/2) state. The versatility of the slice imaging technique in combination with resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) detection of I((2)P(3/2)) atoms allow distinct measurements of the competing processes. The I((2)P(3/2)) atom kinetic energy distributions (KEDs) obtained in both cases reflect inverted vibrational progressions of the ν(2) umbrella mode of the CH(3) co-product. The experimental results show a satisfactory agreement with multisurface wave packet calculations using a reduced dimensionality (pseudotriatomic) model carried out on the available ab initio potential energy surfaces.     

Near-UV photodissociation of oriented CH3I adsorbed on Cu(110)-I

Methyl iodide adsorbed on a Cu(110)-I surface has been found to be highly orientationally ordered. We have exploited this orientation to select different CH(3)I excited states for photodissociation by using polarized near-UV light at wavelengths of 308, 248, and 222 nm. Using p-polarized light at all three wavelengths, we find that dissociation proceeds largely via the (3)Q(0) state, consistent with the picture from gas-phase photolysis. In contrast, using s-polarized light we find contributions from the (3)Q(1) state at lambda=308 nm, the (1)Q(1) state at lambda=248 nm, and the (E,1) state at lambda=222 nm-the latter being a state that has not been implicated in gas-phase studies of CH(3)I A-band photolysis. We also note the contribution to surface photodissociation from low-energy photoelectrons causing dissociative electron attachment to adsorbed CH(3)I and have identified the promotion of direct photodissociation pathways during lambda=308 nm photolysis.     

A femtosecond velocity map imaging study on B-band predissociation in CH3I. II. The 2(0)1 and 3(0)1 vibronic levels

Femtosecond time-resolved velocity map imaging experiments are reported on several vibronic levels of the second absorption band (B-band) of CH(3)I, including vibrational excitation in the ν(2) and ν(3) modes of the bound (3)R(1)(E) Rydberg state. Specific predissociation lifetimes have been determined for the 2(0)(1) and 3(0)(1) vibronic levels from measurements of time-resolved I*((2)P(1/2)) and CH(3) fragment images, parent decay, and photoelectron images obtained through both resonant and non-resonant multiphoton ionization. The results are compared with our previously reported predissociation lifetime measurements for the band origin 0(0) (0) [Gitzinger et al., J. Chem. Phys. 132, 234313 (2010)]. The result, previously reported in the literature, where vibrational excitation to the C-I stretching mode (ν(3)) of the CH(3)I (3)R(1)(E) Rydberg state yields a predissociation lifetime about four times slower than that corresponding to the vibrationless state, whereas predissociation is twice faster if the vibrational excitation is to the umbrella mode (ν(2)), is confirmed in the present experiments. In addition to the specific vibrational state lifetimes, which were found to be 0.85 ± 0.04 ps and 4.34 ± 0.13 ps for the 2(0)(1) and 3(0)(1) vibronic levels, respectively, the time evolution of the fragment anisotropy and the vibrational activity of the CH(3) fragment are presented. Additional striking results found in the present work are the evidence of ground state I((2)P(3/2)) fragment production when excitation is produced specifically to the 3(0)(1) vibronic level, which is attributed to predissociation via the A-band (1)Q(1) potential energy surface, and the indication of a fast adiabatic photodissociation process through the repulsive A-band (3)A(1)(4E) state, after direct absorption to this state, competing with absorption to the 3(0)(1) vibronic level of the (3)R(1)(E) Rydberg state of the B-band.     

Photodissociation dynamics of the methyl radical at 212.5 nm: effect of parent internal excitation

Photodissociation dynamics of the CH3 radical at 212.5 nm has been investigated using the H atom Rydberg tagging time-of-flight method with a pure CH3 radical source generated by the photolysis of CH3I at 266 nm. Time-of-flight spectra of the H atom products from the photolysis of both cold and hot methyl radicals have been measured at different photolysis polarizations. Experimental results indicate that the photodissociation of the methyl radical in its ground vibrational state at 212.5 nm excitation occurs on a very fast time scale in comparison with its rotational period, indicating the CH3 dissociation at 212.5 nm occurs on the excited 3s Rydberg state surface. Experimental evidence also shows that the photodissociation of the methyl radical in the nu2 = 1 state of the umbrella mode at 212.5 nm excitation is characteristically different from that in the ground vibrational state.     

Productions of I, I*, and C2H5 in the A-band photodissociation of ethyl iodide in the wavelength range from 245 to 283 nm by using ion-imaging detection

Photodissociation dynamics of ethyl iodide in the A band has been investigated at several wavelengths between 245 and 283 nm using resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization technique combined with velocity map ion-imaging detection. The ion images of I, I(*), and C(2)H(5) fragments are analyzed to yield corresponding speed and angular distributions. Two photodissociation channels are found: I(5p (2)P(3/2))+C(2)H(5) (hotter internal states) and I(*)(5p (2)P(1/2))+C(2)H(5) (colder). In addition, a competitive ionization dissociation channel, C(2)H(5)I(+)+h nu-->C(2)H(5)+I(+), appears at the wavelengths <266 nm. The I/I(*) branching of the dissociation channels may be obtained directly from the C(2)H(5) (+) images, yielding the quantum yield of I(*) about 0.63-0.76, comparable to the case of CH(3)I. Anisotropy parameters (beta) determined for the I(*) channel remain at 1.9+/-0.1 over the wavelength range studied, indicating that the I(*) production should originate from the (3)Q(0) state. In contrast, the beta(I) values become smaller above 266 nm, comprising two components, direct excitation of (3)Q(1) and nonadiabatic transition between the (3)Q(0) and (1)Q(1) states. The curve crossing probabilities are determined to be 0.24-0.36, increasing with the wavelength. A heavier branched ethyl group does not significantly enhance the I(5p (2)P(3/2)) production from the nonadiabatic contribution, as compared to the case of CH(3)I.     

Br2 elimination in 248-nm photolysis of CF2Br2 probed by using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy

By using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy technique, we have observed the channel of Br2 molecular elimination following photodissociation of CF2Br2 at 248 nm. A tunable laser beam, which is crossed perpendicular to the photolyzing laser beam in a ring-down cell, is used to probe the Br2 fragment in the B 3Piou+-X1Sigmag+ transition. The vibrational population is obtained in a nascent state, despite ring-down time as long as 500-1000 ns. The population ratio of Br2(v=1)/Br2(v=0) is determined to be 0.4+/-0.2, slightly larger than the value of 0.22 evaluated by Boltzmann distribution at room temperature. The quantum yield of the Br2 elimination reaction is also measured to be 0.04+/-0.01. This work provides direct evidence to support molecular elimination occurring in the CF2Br2 photodissociation and proposes a plausible pathway with the aid of ab initio potential-energy calculations. CF2Br2 is excited probably to the 1B1 and 3B2 states at 248 nm. As the C-Br bond is elongated upon excitation, the coupling of the 1A'(1B1) state to the high vibrational levels of the ground state X 1A'(1A1) may be enhanced to facilitate the process of internal conversion. After transition, the highly vibrationally excited CF2Br2 feasibly surpasses a transition barrier prior to decomposition. According to the ab initio calculations, the transition state structure tends to correlate with the intermediate state CF2Br+Br(CF2Br...Br) and the products CF2+Br2. A sequential photodissociation pathway is thus favored. That is, a single C-Br bond breaks, and then the free-Br atom moves to form a Br-Br bond, followed by the Br2 elimination. The formed Br-Br bond distance in the transition state tends to approach equilibrium such that the Br2 fragment may be populated in cold vibrational distribution. Observation of a small vibrational population ratio of Br2(v=1)Br2(v=0) agrees with the proposed mechanism.     

Time-dependent quantum wave-packet description of the 1pi sigma* photochemistry of phenol

The photoinduced hydrogen elimination reaction in phenol via the conical intersections of the dissociative 1pi sigma* state with the 1pi pi* state and the electronic ground state has been investigated by time-dependent quantum wave-packet calculations. A model including three intersecting electronic potential-energy surfaces (S0, 1pi sigma*, and 1pi pi*) and two nuclear degrees of freedom (OH stretching and OH torsion) has been constructed on the basis of accurate ab initio multireference electronic-structure data. The electronic population transfer processes at the conical intersections, the branching ratio between the two dissociation channels, and their dependence on the initial vibrational levels have been investigated by photoexciting phenol from different vibrational levels of its ground electronic state. The nonadiabatic transitions between the excited states and the ground state occur on a time scale of a few tens of femtoseconds if the 1pi pi*-1pi sigma* conical intersection is directly accessible, which requires the excitation of at least one quantum of the OH stretching mode in the 1pi pi* state. It is shown that the node structure, which is imposed on the nuclear wave packet by the initial preparation as well as by the transition through the first conical intersection (1pi pi*-1pi sigma*), has a profound effect on the nonadiabatic dynamics at the second conical intersection (1pi sigma*-S0). These findings suggest that laser control of the photodissociation of phenol via IR mode-specific excitation of vibrational levels in the electronic ground state should be possible.     

Wave packet calculations on the effect of the femtosecond pulse width in the time-resolved photodissociation of CH3I in the A-band

The effect of changing the temporal width of the pump and probe pulses in the time-resolved photodissociation of CH(3)I in the A-band has been investigated using multisurface nonadiabatic wave packet calculations. The effect is analyzed by examining properties like the photodissociation reaction times and the CH(3) fragment vibrational and rotational distributions, by using four different widths of the pump and probe pulses, namely pulses with full-width-at-half-maximum of 100, 50, 20, and 10 fs. Simulations are carried out for two different excitation wavelengths, 295 and 230 nm, located to the red and to the blue of the maximum of the absorption spectrum, in order to explore possible effects of the excitation wavelength. The reaction times are found to decrease significantly with decreasing pulse temporal width. The times associated with the CH(3) + I*((2)P(1/2)) dissociation channels decrease more remarkably than those of the CH(3) + I((2)P(3/2)) channels. The results indicate that for excitation wavelengths located to the blue of the absorption spectrum maximum the effect of changing the pulse width is less pronounced than for wavelengths to the red of the spectrum maximum. On the contrary, the CH(3) vibrational and rotational distributions show little variation upon large changes in the pulse width. The trends found are explained in terms of the changes in the spectral bandwidth of the pulses and of the shape and slope of the absorption spectrum at the different excitation wavelengths.     

Electronic spectroscopy of an isolated halocarbocation: the iodomethyl cation CH2I+ and its deuterated isotopomers

Building upon our recent observation of the gas-phase electronic spectrum of the iodomethyl cation (CH2I+), we report an extensive study of the electronic spectroscopy of CH2I+ and its deuterated isotopomers CHDI+ and CD2I+ using a combination of fluorescence excitation and single vibronic level (SVL) emission spectroscopies. The spectra were measured in the gas phase under jet-cooled conditions using a pulsed discharge source. Fluorescence excitation spectra reveal a dominant progression in nu3 (C-I stretch), the frequency of which is markedly smaller in the upper state. Rotational analysis shows that, while the A constant is similar in the two states, the excited state has significantly smaller B and C constants. These results indicate a lengthening of the C-I bond upon electronic excitation, consistent with calculations which show that this transition is analogous to the well-known pi-pi* transition in the isoelectronic substituted formaldehydes. SVL emission spectra show progressions involving four of the six vibrational modes; only the C-H(D) stretching modes remain unobserved. The vibrational parameters determined from a Dunham expansion fit of the ground state vibrational term energies are in excellent agreement with the predictions of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A normal-mode analysis was completed to derive a harmonic force field for the ground state, where resonance delocalization of the positive charge leads to partial double bond character, H2C+-I <--> H2C=I+, giving rise to a C-I stretching frequency significantly larger than that of the iodomethyl radical.     

Modeling the (HI)2 photodissociation dynamics through a nonadiabatic wave packet study of the I*-HI complex

The nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics of (HI)2 is simulated by applying a wave packet approach which starts from the I*-HI complex (where I* denotes the I(2P1/2) excited electronic state) produced after the photodissociation of the first HI moiety within (HI)2. In the model, two excited electronic potential surfaces corresponding to I*-HI(A 1Pi1) and I-HI(A 1Pi1), which interact through spin-rotation coupling, are considered. The simulations show that upon photodissociation of HI within I*-HI, the dissociating H fragment undergoes intracluster collisions with the I* atom. Some of these collisional events induce an electronically nonadiabatic transition which causes the deactivation of I* to the I ground electronic state. The probability of such nonadiabatic process is found to be 0.37%. Most of the photodissociation process takes place in the upper excited electronic surface [that of the I*-HI(A 1Pi1) complex], where H dissociation is found to be mainly direct or involving weak H/I* intracluster collisions. These weak collisions with high collisional angular momentum, and therefore high collisional impact parameters associated, are responsible for most of the probability of nonadiabatic transitions found. The type of H/I* collisions leading to nonadiabatic transitions appears to be closely related to the nature of the spin-rotation coupling between the two excited electronic states involved.     

A detailed experimental and theoretical study of the femtosecond A-band photodissociation of CH(3)I

The real time photodissociation dynamics of CH(3)I from the A band has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Femtosecond pump-probe experiments in combination with velocity map imaging have been carried out to measure the reaction times (clocking) of the different (nonadiabatic) channels of this photodissociation reaction yielding ground and spin-orbit excited states of the I fragment and vibrationless and vibrationally excited (symmetric stretch and umbrella modes) CH(3) fragments. The measured reaction times have been rationalized by means of a wave packet calculation on the available ab initio potential energy surfaces for the system using a reduced dimensionality model. A 40 fs delay time has been found experimentally between the channels yielding vibrationless CH(3)(nu=0) and I((2)P(32)) and I(*)((2)P(12)) that is well reproduced by the calculations. However, the observed reduction in delay time between the I and I(*) channels when the CH(3) fragment appears with one or two quanta of vibrational excitation in the umbrella mode is not well accounted for by the theoretical model.