Abstract

We have developed an experimental technique to determine the vibrational energy distribution in the molecular product of the associative ionization reaction by wavelength dependent photodissociation of the created ${\text{Na}}_{\text{2}}^{\text{+}}$ ions. The experimental part of the method consists of measuring the photofragmentation rate as a function of the wavelength of the dissociating c.w. laser. By comparing the experimental data to spectra calculated for each distinct vibrational level we can deduce the population of a given vibrational level.

© 1994 IEEE