Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.113, No.17, 4919-4922, 2009
Ion-Pair Dissociation Dynamics of HCl: Fast Predissociation
We have Studied the ion-pair dissociation dynamics of HCl -> Cl-(S-1(0)) + H+ in the 14.41-14.60 eV using tunable XUV laser and the velocity map imaging method. The measured ion-pair yield spectrum has P- and R-branch resolved vibrational structure, which indicates a predissociation mechanism for the ion-pair dissociation. All of-the anisotropy parameters for the angular distribution of the fragments have the limiting values of beta = 2, which suggests that the predissociation occurs via (1)Sigma(+) Rydber-states. and is fast in comparison with the rotational period of HCl. TO understand the predissociation dynamics, the diabatic potential energy Curve of the ion-pair state has been calculated at the MRCI/CAS/vtz level. The experimental and theoretical results obtained in this work have provided a solid foundation for the previously proposed mechanism that the ion-pair dissociation occurs via predissociation of Rydberg states converging to HCl+ (A(2)Sigma(+)).