Infrared vacuum-ultraviolet laser pulsed field ionization-photoelectron study of CH3Br+ (X(2)E(3/2))

By preparing methyl bromide (CH3Br) in selected rotational levels of the CH3Br(X(1)A1; v1 = 1) state with infrared (IR) laser excitation prior to vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) laser pulsed field ionization-photoelectron (PFI-PE) measurements, we have observed rotationally resolved photoionization transitions to the CH3Br(+)(X(2)E(3/2); v1(+) = 1) state, where v1 and v1(+) are the symmetric C-H stretching vibrational mode for the neutral and cation, respectively. The VUV-PFI-PE origin band for CH3Br(+)(X(2)E(3/2)) has also been measured. The simulation of these IR-VUV-PFI-PE and VUV-PFI-PE spectra have allowed the determination of the v1(+) vibrational frequency (2901.8 +/- 0.5 cm(-1)) and the ionization energies of the origin band (85 028.3 +/- 0.5 cm(-1)) and the v1(+) = 1 <-- v1 = 1 band (84 957.9 +/- 0.5 cm(-1)).     

Correlation between atomic orientation and product angular momentum alignment in the reaction of oriented Ar (3P2) with CH3OH

Atomic orientation effect for the CH(3)O(*) formation has been studied for the dissociative energy transfer reaction of oriented Ar ((3)P(2)) with CH(3)OH. The degree of polarization of CH(3)O(*) chemiluminescence was determined as a function of each magnetic M(J) (') substate in the collision frame. A drastic change of the product angular momentum alignment due to atomic orientation was recognized.     

Volumetric intensity dependence on the formation of molecular and atomic ions within a high intensity laser focus

The mechanism of atomic and molecular ionization in intense, ultra-short laser fields is a subject which continues to receive considerable attention. An inherent difficulty with techniques involving the tight focus of a laser beam is the continuous distribution of intensities contained within the focus, which can vary over several orders of magnitude. The present study adopts time of flight mass spectrometry coupled with a high intensity (8 x 10(15) Wcm(-2)), ultra-short (20 fs) pulse laser in order to investigate the ionization and dissociation of the aromatic molecule benzene-d1 (C(6)H(5)D) as a function of intensity within a focused laser beam, by scanning the laser focus in the direction of propagation, while detecting ions produced only in a "thin" slice (400 and 800 microm) of the focus. The resultant TOF mass spectra varies significantly, highlighting the dependence on the range of specific intensities accessed and their volumetric weightings on the ionization/dissociation pathways accessed.     

Br(2Pj) atom formation dynamics in ultraviolet photodissociation of tert-butyl bromide and iso-butyl bromide

The photodissociation dynamics of tert-C(4)H(9)Br and iso-C(4)H(9)Br has been studied at 234 and 265 nm using two-dimensional velocity map imaging technique. The translational energy and angular distributions have been analyzed for Br, Br(*), and tert-C(4)H(9) radical. The energy distribution of Br atom in the photodissociation of tert-C(4)H(9)Br is found to consist of two Gaussian components. The two components are correlated to two independent reaction paths on the excited potential energy surfaces: (1) the high-energy component from the prompt dissociation along the C-Br stretching mode and (2) the low-energy component from the repulsive mode along the C-Br stretching, coupled with some bending motions. For the energy distribution of Br(*) atom in the photodissociation of tert-C(4)H(9)Br, a third multiphoton dissociative ionization channel is observed at 265 nm in addition to the two energy components corresponding to channels (1) and (2). The energy distributions of Br and Br(*) atoms in the photodissociation of iso-C(4)H(9)Br can be fitted using only one Gaussian function indicating a single formation channel. Relative quantum yields for Br((2)P(32)) at 234 and 265 nm in the photodissociation of tert-C(4)H(9)Br are measured to be 0.76 and 0.65, respectively. For iso-C(4)H(9)Br, the measured value is Phi(234 nm)(Br)=0.81. The contribution of bending modes to Br and Br(*) is much more obvious in the photodissociation of tert-C(4)H(9)Br than in iso-C(4)H(9)Br.     

Experimental and theoretical investigation of high-power laser ionization and dissociation of methane

The main purpose of this paper is to report the high-power laser ionization-dissociation of CH(4) at various femtosecond (fs) laser intensities (from 1 x 10(14) W/cm(2) to 2 x 10(15) W/cm(2)) with a laser pulse duration of 48 fs. The generalized molecular Keldysh theory has been applied to calculate the ionization yields for CH(4)+ and CH(4)++. Outside the influence of the fs intense laser, we propose to calculate the mass spectra due to the decomposition of CH(4)+ and CH(4)++, using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory. The agreement between the experimental mass spectra and calculated mass spectra seems to be reasonable.     

Photodissociation dynamics of 3-bromo-1,1,1-trifluoro-2-propanol and 2-(bromomethyl) hexafluoro-2-propanol at 234 nm: resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization detection of Br (2P(j))

The photodissociation dynamics of 3-bromo-1,1,1-trifluoro-2-propanol (BTFP) and 2-(bromomethyl) hexafluoro-2-propanol (BMHFP) have been studied at 234 nm, and the C-Br bond dissociation investigated using resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometer (REMPI-TOFMS). Br formation is a primary process and occurs on a repulsive surface involving the C-Br bond of BTFP and BMHFP. Polarization dependent time-of-flight profiles were measured, and the translational energy distributions and recoil anisotropy parameters extracted using forward convolution fits. A strong polarization dependence of time-of-flight profiles suggest anisotropic distributions of the Br((2)P(3/2)) and Br((2)P(1/2)) fragments with anisotropy parameter, β, of respectively 0.5 ± 0.2 and 1.2 ± 0.2 for BTFP, and 0.4 ± 0.1 and 1.0 ± 0.3 for BMHFP. The measured velocity distributions consist of a single velocity component. The average translational energies for the Br((2)P(3/2)) and Br((2)P(1/2)) channels are 9.2 ± 1.0 and 7.4 ± 0.9 kcal/mol for BTFP, and 15.4 ± 1.8 and 15.1 ± 2.0 kcal/mol for BMHFP. The relative quantum yields of Br((2)P(3/2)) and Br((2)P(1/2)), which are 0.70 ± 0.14 and 0.30 ± 0.06 in BTFP and 0.81 ± 0.16 and 0.19 ± 0.04 in BMHFP, indicate that the yield of the former is predominant. The measured anisotropy parameters for the Br((2)P(3/2)) and Br((2)P(1/2)) channels suggest that the former channel has almost equal contributions from both the parallel and the perpendicular transitions, whereas the latter channel has a significant contribution from a parallel transition. Non-adiabatic curve crossing plays an important role in the C-Br bond dissociation of both BTFP and BMHFP. The estimated curve crossing probabilities suggest a greater value in BTFP, which explains a greater observed value of the relative quantum yield of Br((2)P(1/2)) in this case.     

Two-body Coulomb explosion and hydrogen migration in methanol induced by intense 7 and 21 fs laser pulses

Two-body Coulomb explosion with the C-O bond breaking of methanol induced by intense laser pulses with the duration of Delta t=7 and 21 fs is investigated by the coincidence momentum imaging method. When Delta t=7 fs, the angular distribution of recoil vectors of the fragment ions for the direct C-O bond breaking pathway, CH(3)OH(2+)-->CH(3) (+)+OH(+), exhibits a peak deflected from the laser polarization direction by 30 degrees -45 degrees , and the corresponding angular distribution for the migration pathway, CH(2)OH(2) (+)-->CH(2) (+)+H(2)O(+), in which one hydrogen migrates from the carbon site to the oxygen site prior to the C-O bond breaking, exhibits almost the same profile. When the laser pulse duration is stretched to Delta t=21 fs, the angular distributions for the direct and migration pathways exhibit a broad peak along the laser polarization direction probably due to the dynamical alignment and/or the change in the double ionization mechanism; that is, from the nonsequential double ionization to the sequential double ionization. However, the extent of the anisotropy in the migration pathway is smaller than that in the direct pathway, exhibiting a substantial effect of hydrogen atom migration in the dissociative ionization of methanol interacting with the linearly polarized intense laser field.     

Evidence of CH2O (a3A2) and C2H4 (a3B1u) produced from photodissociation of 1,3-trimethylene oxide at 193 nm

We investigated the dissociative ionization of formaldehyde (CH(2)O) and ethene (C(2)H(4)) produced from photolysis of 1,3-trimethylene oxide at 193 nm using a molecular-beam apparatus and vacuum-ultraviolet radiation from an undulator for direct ionization. The CH(2)O (C(2)H(4)) product suffers from severe dissociative ionization to HCO(+) (C(2)H(3) (+) and C(2)H(2) (+)) even though photoionization energy is as small as 9.8 eV. Branching ratios of fragmentation of CH(2)O and C(2)H(4) following ionization are revealed as a function of kinetic energy of products using ionizing photons from 9.8 to 14.8 eV. Except several exceptions, branching ratios of daughter ions increase with increasing photon energy but decrease with increasing kinetic energy. The title reaction produces CH(2)O and C(2)H(4) mostly on electronic ground states but a few likely on triplet states; C(2)H(4) (a(3)B(1u)) seems to have a yield greater than CH(2)O (a(3)A(2)). The distinct features observed at small kinetic energies of daughter ions are attributed to dissociative ionization of photoproducts CH(2)O (a(3)A(2)) and C(2)H(4) (a(3)B(1u)). The observation of triplet products indicates that intersystem crossing occurs prior to fragmentation of 1,3-trimethylene oxide.     

Molecular fragmentation driven by ultrafast dynamic ionic resonances

The authors time resolve molecular motion in bound state, ionic potentials that leads to bond cleavage during the interaction with intense, ultrafast laser fields. Resonances in molecular ions play an important role in dissociative ionization with ultrafast laser fields, and the authors demonstrate how these resonances evolve in time to produce dissociation after initial strong-field ionization. Exploiting such dynamic resonances offers the possibility of controlled bond breaking and characterizing time-dependent molecular structure.     

The Jahn-Teller effect in CH(3)CN(+) (X(2)E) and CD(3)CN(+) (X(2)E) studied by zero kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy

The Jahn-Teller effect in CH(3)CN(+) (X(2)E) and CD(3)CN(+) (X(2)E) has been found experimentally by zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy using coherent extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation. The vibronic bands of CH(3)CN(+) (X(2)E) and CD(3)CN(+) (X(2)E) at about 4500 cm(-1) above the ground states have been recorded. The spectra consist mainly of the Jahn-Teller active C-C[triple bond]N bending (v(8)), the CN stretching (v(2)), the CH(3) (CD(3)) deforming (v(6)), and the C-C stretching (v(4)) vibronic excitations. The Jahn-Teller active vibronic bands (v(8)) have been assigned with a harmonic model including linear and quadratic Jahn-Teller coupling terms, taking into account only the single mode vibronic excitation. The ionization potentials of CH(3)CN and CD(3)CN have also been determined, and their values are 12.2040(+/-0.001) and 12.2286(+/-0.001) eV, respectively.     

Transient photoelectron spectroscopy of the dissociative Br2(1Piu) state

Photodissociation of bromine on the Br2(1Piu) state is probed with ultrafast extreme ultraviolet (53.7 nm) single-photon ionization. Time-resolved photoelectron spectra show simultaneously the depletion of ground state bromine molecules as well as the rise of Br(2P3/2) products due to 402.5 nm photolysis. A partial photoionization cross-section ratio of atomic versus molecular bromine is obtained. Transient photoelectron spectra of a dissociative wave packet on the excited state are presented in the limit of low-power-density, single-photon excitation to the dissociative state. Transient binding energy shifts of "atomic-like" photoelectron peaks are observed and interpreted as photoionization of nearly separated Br atom pairs on the Br2(1Piu) state to repulsive dissociative ionization states.     

Atomiclike ionization and fragmentation of a series of CH3-X (X: H, F, Cl, Br, I, and CN) by an intense femtosecond laser

Methane derivatives of CH(3)-X (X: H, F, Cl, Br, I, and CN) were ionized and fragmented by an intense femtosecond laser with a 40 fs pulse at 0.8 microm in intensities of 10(13)-10(15) W cm(-2). The curves of the ionization yields of CH(3)-X versus laser intensities have been found to be fitted with an atomic ionization theory (the theory of Perelomov, Popov, and Terent'ev) that has been established to reproduce experimental results well for rare gas atoms. The saturation intensities have been reproduced within a factor of 1.6 of the calculated ones. For molecules with low ionization potentials such as amines, another atomic ionization theory (the theory of Ammosov, Delone, and Krainov) reproduced the saturation intensities. The atomiclike ionization behavior of molecules indicates that the fragmentation occurs after the ionization. The fragmentation mechanisms after the ionization of some molecular ions are discussed.     

Direct observation of the primary and secondary C-Br bond cleavages from the 1,2-dibromopropane photodissociation at 234 and 265 nm using the velocity map ion imaging technique

Photodissociation dynamics of 1,2-dibromopropane has been investigated at 234 and 265 nm by using the velocity map ion imaging method. At both pump energies, a single Gaussian-shaped speed distribution is observed for the Br*((2)P(1/2)) fragment, whereas at least three velocity components are found to be existent for the Br((2)P(3/2)) product. The secondary C-Br bond cleavage of the bromopropyl radical which is energized from the ultrafast primary C-Br bond rupture should be responsible for the multicomponent translational energy distribution at the low kinetic energy region of Br((2)P(3/2)). The recoil anisotropy parameter (beta) of the fragment from the primary C-Br bond dissociation is measured to be 0.53 (0.49) and 1.26 (1.73) for Br((2)P(3/2)) and Br*((2)P(1/2)), respectively, at 234 (265) nm. The beta value of Br((2)P(3/2)) from the secondary C-Br bond dissociation event at 265 nm is found to be 0.87, reflecting the fact that the corresponding Br((2)P(3/2)) fragment carried the initial vector component of the bromopropyl radical produced from the primary bond dissociation event. Density functional theory has been used to calculate energetics involved both in the primary and in the secondary C-Br bond dissociation dynamics.     

Photolytic generation of benzhydryl cations and radicals from quaternary phosphonium salts: how highly reactive carbocations survive their first nanoseconds

UV irradiation (266 or 280 nm) of benzhydryl triarylphosphonium salts Ar(2)CH-PAr(3)(+)X(-) yields benzhydryl cations Ar(2)CH(+) and/or benzhydryl radicals Ar(2)CH(?). The efficiency and mechanism of the photo-cleavage were studied by nanosecond laser flash photolysis and by ultrafast spectroscopy with a state-of-the-art femtosecond transient spectrometer. The influences of the photo-electrofuge (Ar(2)CH(+)), the photo-nucleofuge (PPh(3) or P(p-Cl-C(6)H(4))(3)), the counterion (X(-) = BF(4)(-), SbF(6)(-), Cl(-), or Br(-)), and the solvent (CH(2)Cl(2) or CH(3)CN) were investigated. Photogeneration of carbocations from Ar(2)CH-PAr(3)(+)BF(4)(-) or -SbF(6)(-) is considerably more efficient than from typical neutral precursors (e.g., benzhydryl chlorides or bromides). The photochemistry of phosphonium salts is controlled by the degree of ion pairing, which depends on the solvent and the concentration of the phosphonium salts. High yields of carbocations are obtained by photolyses of phosphonium salts with complex counterions (X(-) = BF(4)(-) or SbF(6)(-)), while photolyses of phosphonium halides Ar(2)CH-PPh(3)(+)X(-) (X(-) = Cl(-) or Br(-)) in CH(2)Cl(2) yield benzhydryl radicals Ar(2)CH(?) due to photo-electron transfer in the excited phosphonium halide ion pair. At low concentrations in CH(3)CN, the precursor salts are mostly unpaired, and the photo-cleavage mechanism is independent of the nature of the counter-anions. Dichloromethane is better suited for generating the more reactive benzhydryl cations than the more polar and more nucleophilic solvents CH(3)CN or CF(3)CH(2)OH. Efficient photo-generation of the most reactive benzhydryl cations (3,5-F(2)-C(6)H(3))(2)CH(+) and (4-(CF(3))-C(6)H(4))(2)CH(+) was only achieved using the photo-leaving group P(p-Cl-C(6)H(4))(3) and the counter-anion SbF(6)(-) in CH(2)Cl(2). The lifetimes of the photogenerated benzhydryl cations depend greatly on the decay mechanisms, which can be reactions with the solvent, with the photo-leaving group PAr(3), or with the counter-anion X(-) of the precursor salt. However, the nature of the photo-leaving group and the counterion of the precursor phosphonium salt do not affect the rates of the reactions of the obtained benzhydryl cations toward added nucleophiles. The method presented in this work allows us to generate a wide range of donor- and acceptor-substituted benzhydryl cations Ar(2)CH(+) for the purpose of studying their electrophilic reactivities.     

Experimental and quantum-chemical studies on photoionization and dissociative photoionization of CH2Br2

The dissociative photoionization of CH2Br2 in a region approximately 10-24 eV was investigated with photoionization mass spectroscopy using a synchrotron radiation source. An adiabatic ionization energy of 10.25 eV determined for CH2Br2 agrees satisfactorily with predictions of 10.26 and 10.25 eV with G2 and G3 methods, respectively. Observed major fragment ions CH2Br+, CHBr+, and CBr+ show appearance energies at 11.22, 12.59, and 15.42 eV, respectively; minor fragment ions CHBr2+, Br+, and CH2+ appear at 12.64, 15.31, and 16.80 eV, respectively. Energies for formation of observed fragment ions and their neutral counterparts upon ionization of CH2Br2 are computed with G2 and G3 methods. Dissociative photoionization channels associated with six observed fragment ions are proposed based on comparison of determined appearance energies and predicted energies. An upper limit of DeltaH0f,298(CHBr+) < or = 300.7 +/- 1.5 kcal mol(-1) is derived experimentally; the adiabatic ionization energy of CHBr is thus derived to be < or = 9.17 +/- 0.23 eV. Literature values for DeltaH0f,298(CBr+) = 362.5 kcal mol(-1) and ionization energy of 10.43 eV for CBr are revised to be less than 332 kcal mol(-1) and 9.11 eV, respectively. Also based on a new experimental ionization energy, DeltaH0f,298(CH2Br2+) is revised to be 236.4 +/- 1.5 kcal mol(-1).     

Photodissociation of propargyl bromide and photoionization of the propargyl radical

Velocity map imaging was used to study the 193 nm photodissociation of propargyl bromide C(3)H(3)Br as well as the photoionization dynamics of the resulting propargyl radical C(3)H(3). Images were recorded by using single-photon vacuum ultraviolet ionization of the propargyl radical and by using two-photon resonant, three-photon ionization of the ground state Br((2)P(32)) and spin-orbit excited Br(*)((2)P(12)) atoms. Analysis of these data allowed the determination of the branching ratio Br:Br(*) as well as the photofragment angular distributions. Images of C(3)H(3) produced by the photodissociation of both C(3)H(3)Br and C(3)H(3)Cl were recorded at several energies between 8.97 and 9.12 eV, as well as at 9.86 eV, and showed no obvious internal energy dependence of the relative photoionization cross sections.     

Multiphoton dissociative ionization of tert-pentyl bromide near 265 nm

We report on the photodissociation dynamics of tert-pentyl bromide near 265 nm investigated by time-sliced velocity map imaging. The speed and angular distributions have been analyzed for both the ground-state Br((2)P(3∕2)) atom (denoted Br) and the spin-orbit excited-state Br((2)P(1∕2)) atom (denoted Br*). The speed distributions of Br and Br* atoms are all found to consist of three Gaussian components, which correlate to three independent dissociation pathways on the excited potential energy surfaces: (1) the high translational energy (E(T)) component from the prompt dissociation along the C-Br stretching mode, (2) the middle E(T) component from the repulsive mode along the C-Br stretching coupled with some bending motions, and (3) the low E(T) component from the repulsive mode along the C-Br stretching coupled with more bending motions. More interestingly, we have also observed the tert-C(5)H(11)(+) ions in 263-267 nm. The near-zero kinetic energy distributions extracted from the three tert-C(5)H(11)(+) images near 265 nm show the typical characteristics that are attributable to multiphoton dissociative ionization, suggesting the existence of a neutral superexcited state of the parent tert-pentyl bromide molecule. The contribution of bromine atoms formed in this dissociative ionization channel adds in the total relative distribution of low E(T) component in the Br*(Br) formation channel, which reasonably explains the abnormal distributions observed in between the middle and low E(T) components in the Br*(Br) formation channel.     

Photodissociation dynamics of CH(2)Br(2) near 234 and 267 nm

The photodissociation dynamics of CH(2)Br(2) was investigated near 234 and 267 nm. A two-dimensional photofragment ion velocity imaging technique coupled with a [2+1] resonance-enhanced multiphoton (REMPI) ionization scheme was utilized to obtain the angular and translational energy distributions of the nascent Br ((2)P(3/2)) and Br* ((2)P(1/2)) atoms. The obtained translational energy distributions of Br and Br* are found consist of two components which should be come from the radical channel and secondary dissociation process, respectively. It is suggested that the symmetry reduction from C(2v) to C(s) during photodissociation invokes a non-adiabatic coupling between the 2B(1) and A(1) states. Consequently, the higher internal energy distribution of Br channel than Br* formation channel and the broader translational energy distribution of the former are presumed correlate with a variety of vibrational excitation disposal at the crossing point resulting from the larger non-adiabatic crossing from 2B(1) to A(1) state than the reverse crossing. Moreover, the measured anisotropy parameter beta indicate that fragments recoil along the Br-Br direction mostly in the photodissociation.     

Low-energy electron stimulated desorption of neutrals from multilayers of SiCl4 on Si(111)

The interaction of low-energy electrons with multilayers of SiCl(4) adsorbed on Si(111) leads to production and desorption of Cl((2)P(32)), Cl((2)P(12)), Si, and SiCl. Resonant structure in the yield versus incident electron energy (E(i)) between 6 and 12 eV was seen in all neutral channels and assigned to dissociative electron attachment (DEA), unimolecular decay of excited products produced via autodetachment and direct dissociation. These processes yield Cl((2)P(32)) and Cl((2)P(12)) with nonthermal kinetic energies of 425 and 608 meV, respectively. The Cl((2)P(12)) is produced solely at the vacuum surface interface, whereas the formation of Cl((2)P(32)) likely involves subsurface dissociation, off-normal trajectories, and collisions with neighbors. Structure in the Cl((2)P(32)) yield near 14 and 25 eV can originate from excitation of electrons in the 2e, 7t(2) and 6t(2), 6a(1) levels, respectively. Although the 14 eV feature was not present in the Cl((2)P(12)) yield, the broad 25 eV feature, which involves complex Auger filling of holes in the 6t(2) and 6a(1) levels of SiCl(4), is observed. Direct ionization, exciton decay, and DEA from secondary electron scattering all occur at E(i)>14 eV. Si and SiCl were detected via nonresonant ionization of SiCl(x) precursors that are produced via the same states and mechanisms that yield Cl. The Si retains the kinetic energy profile of the desorbed precursors.     

Photodissociation channels for N2O near 130 nm studied by product imaging

The photodissociation of N(2)O at wavelengths near 130 nm has been investigated by velocity-mapped product imaging. In all, five dissociation channels have been detected, leading to the following products: O((1)S)+N(2)(X (1)Sigma), N((2)D)+NO(X (2)Pi), N((2)P)+NO(X (2)Pi), O((3)P) + N(2)(A (3)Sigma(+) (u)), and O((3)P) + N(2)(B (3)Pi(g)). The most significant channel is to the products O((1)S) + N(2)(X(1)Sigma), with strong vibrational excitation in the N(2). The O((3)P) + N(2)(A,B):N((2)D,(2)P) + NO branching ratio is measured to be 1.4 +/- 0.5, while the N(2)(A) + O((3)P(J)):N(2)(B) + O((3)P(J)) branching ratio is determined to be 0.84+/-0.09. The spin-orbit distributions for the O((3)P(J)), N((2)P(J)), and N((2)D(J)) products were also determined. The angular distributions of the products are in qualitative agreement with excitation to the N(2)O(D (1)Sigma(+)) state, with participation as well by the (3)Pi(v) state.