Measurement of the differential cross section of the photoinitiated reactive collision of O(1D)+D2 using only one molecular beam: A study by three dimensional velocity mapping

In order to measure the state selective double differential cross section of a reactive collision, the preparation of the reactants with defined initial velocities and quantum states in number densities high enough to achieve an acceptable count rate is most important. At the same time, secondary collisions have to be prevented in order to ensure that the nascent products are not thermalized. Usually, the best way to control the initial conditions is to use crossed molecular beams, but the number density decreases quadratically with the distance from the nozzle orifice which can be a problem, especially if a molecular product with a large number of populated states is to be analyzed state specifically by REMPI spectroscopy. In this contribution we would like to present a method for measuring the quantum state selective differential cross section of a photoinitiated reaction that combines the advantages of the PHOTOLOC technique (high reactant densities) and the parallel beams technique used by the groups of Kitsopoulos, Orr-Ewing, and Suits (defined relative velocity of the reactants). Moreover, an algorithm based on a Bayesian backward reconstruction developed by W. H. Richardson [J. Opt. Soc. Am. 62, 55 (1972)] has been derived. Both, one reactant and the precursor of the other reactant, are present in the same molecular beam and the center of mass velocity is selected by shifting the dissociation and the detection laser in time and space. Like in comparable methods, this produces a bias in the measured velocity distribution due to the fact that the reaction takes place in the whole volume surrounding the laser beams. This has been also reported by Toomes et al. in the case of the parallel beams technique and presents a general problem of probing reaction products by REMPI spectroscopy. To account for this, we develop a general approach that can be easily adapted to other conditions. The bias is removed in addition to deconvolution from the spread in reactant velocities. Using the benchmark system O(D-1)+D-2 with N2O as the precursor, we demonstrate that the technique is also applicable in a very general sense (i.e., also with a large spread in reactant velocities, products much faster than reactants) and therefore can be used also if such unfortunate conditions cannot be avoided. Since the resulting distribution of velocities in the laboratory frame is not cylindrically symmetric, three dimensional velocity mapping is the method of choice for the detection of the ionized products. For the reconstruction, the distance between the two laser beams is an important parameter. We have measured this distance using the photodissociation of HBr at 193 nm, detecting the H atoms near 243 nm. The collision energy resulting from the 193 nm photodissociation of N2O is 5.2 +/- 1.9 kcal/mol. Our results show a preference for backward scattered D atoms with the OH partner fragment in the high vibrational states (v=4-6), in accord with previously published results claiming the growing importance of a linear abstraction mechanism for collision energies higher than 2.4 kcal/mol. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3427534]