Abstract

It has long been recognized that studies of molecular processes such as photoionization and photofragmentation can provide valuable spectroscopic and chemical dynamics information that can lead to a detailed mechanistic understanding of the energetics, structure, and reactivity of molecular species. With the availability of high power and tunable lasers in the uv and visible region, substantial progress has been made in recent years in understanding molecular dynamics through photoionization and photofragmentation studies. These works, however, are limited to only a few selected molecules and in some cases involve multiple photon excitation. This is because most molecules undergo these molecular processes at excitation wavelengths shorter than 200 nm (i.e., in the VUV region) where few good laser sources are available. Synchrotron light sources have been applied to similar investigations in the VUV with limited success. The main difficulty appears to be the lack of spectral brightness of synchrotrons, particularly in state-specific photoexcitation studies where both high photon intensity and spectral resolution are essential.

© 1988 Optical Society of America