Wavelength-Dependent Dynamics of the O(1D2) Channel in the 1Δu State Photodissociation of CO2

The wavelength-dependent dynamics of the O(¹D₂) channel, formed by photoexcitation of CO₂ to the ¹Δ_u state at 143.53–153.03 nm, is investigated by using the time-sliced velocity-mapped ion imaging method. The measured ionic peaks of the O(¹D₂) images are analyzed to determine the total kinetic energy release (TKER) spectra and image anisotropy parameters. The structures observed in the TKER spectra can be directly assigned to the ro-vibrational state distributions of the counter CO photofragments. Compared to those observed at 157 and 155 nm, the highly rotationally excited CO photofragments still obviously appear in v = 0 and 1, but the fraction of rotational excitations is significantly reduced. Conversely, the CO photofragments exhibit substantially higher vibrational excitations, implying that the nearly linear 2¹A′ state also contributes to dissociation in addition to the bend configuration. The image anisotropy parameters display an extremely slow decreasing trend with an increase of the CO ro-vibrational state besides those for the highest ro-vibrationally excited CO photofragments. Nevertheless, the nonaxial recoil effect, suggested in previous photodissociation studies of CO₂ and other triatomic molecular systems, is still appropriate to explain the observations of internal energy dependences of image anisotropy parameters.