VIBRATIONALLY MEDIATED PHOTODISSOCIATION OF HCN

Abstract

Recently, the dissociation mechanism of HCN by vibrationally mediated photodissociation has been examined. Exciting the C-H strerch with four quanta and photodissociating the molecule with 220 nm light generates CN in the first excited electronic $\tilde{A}^{2}\Pi$ state rather than the ground $\tilde{X}^{2}\Sigma^{+}$ state. The CN fragment is detected by probing the $\tilde{B}^{2}\Sigma^{+}\leftarrow \tilde{A}^{2}\Pi(1-0)$ band and monitoring the laser induced fluorescence (LIF) via the $\tilde{B}^{2}\Sigma^{+}\rightarrow \tilde{X}^{2}\Sigma\Pi$ transition. Progress on the analysis of the LIF spectrum and the nascent product distribution will be presented.