Angular distributions in the photoelectron spectroscopy of carbon monoxide

The angular distributions of the photoelectron intensity for CO have been investigated using a photoelectron spectrometer that has a rotatable detector and an HeI light source. The asymmetry parameter β was carefully measured for 24 vibrational transitions spanning three ionization bands. Its variation with final-state vibrational quantum number was found to have an unusual behavior. It is concluded that an autoionizing state of CO should exist at 584 Å in order to account for this behavior, and that the value of β is very sensitive to the presence of such a state.