Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1982 Photoionization efficiency studies of some simple inorganic molecules Steven Howard Linn Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Physical Chemistry Commons Recommended Citation Linn, Steven Howard, "Photoionization efficiency studies of some simple inorganic molecules " (1982). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 8362. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/8362 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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UniverslV Micrdfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8307765 Linn, Steven Howard PHOTOIONIZATION EFFICIENCY STUDIES OF SOME SIMPLE INORGANIC MOLECULES Iowa State University PH.D. 1982 University Microfilms I nt6rn âti0 n &l 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Photoionization efficiency studies of some simple inorganic molecules by Steven Howard Linn A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Chemistry Approved: Members of the Committee: Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Signature was redacted for privacy. MajoFOep Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate^ Co11ege Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1982 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS 7 GENERAL THEORY 18 SECTION I. MOLECULAR BEAM PHOTOIONIZATION STUDY 28 OF HgClg ABSTRACT 29 INTRODUCTION 30 EXPERIMENTAL 33 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 35 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ' 52 REFERENCES 54 SECTION II. MOLECULAR BEAM PHOTOIONIZATION STUDY 58 OF HgBrg and Hgig ABSTRACT 59 INTRODUCTION 60 DESIGNATION OF ELECTRONIC STATES FOR HgXg 61 EXPERIMENTAL 62 RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS 66 DISCUSSION 89 SUMMARY 104 REFERENCES 105 iii Page SECTION III. PHOTOIONIZATION OF CO,, N,0 DIMERS 109 AND CLUSTERS ABSTRACT 110 INTRODUCTION 111 EXPERIMENTAL 113 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 115 REFERENCES 130 SECTION IV. MOLECULAR BEAM PHOTOIONIZATION .STUDY 134 OF CO, Ng, AND NO DIMERS AND CLUSTERS ABSTRACT 135 INTRODUCTION 136 EXPERIMENTAL 138 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 140 REFERENCES 157 SECTION V. A STUDY OF THE ION-MOLECULE HALF REACTIONS 160 0*(%4nu,v)...(02)m Ojnj+i + 0, m = 1,2, OR 3, USING THE MOLECULAR BEAM PHOTOIONIZATION METHOD ABSTRACT 161 INTRODUCTION 162 EXPERIMENTAL 165 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 167 SUMMARY 183 REFERENCES 184 GENERAL CONCLUSION 186 REFERENCES 188 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 192 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Photoionization occurs when ions are produced as a resuit of photo­ absorption. The earliest studies of photoionization phenomena were done with line sources and by detecting the ions produced purely as a 1 2 photocurrent. ' Later, studies were done by measuring the photoions formed as a function of energy, requiring monochromated light production 3 7 systems, " and mass spectrometers were incorporated to provide identi- g q fication of the product ions. ' This made it possible to find the photoionization efficiency (PIE), which is the intensity of the ion signal divided by the intensity of the transmitted light signal at a given photon energy. If the fraction of photons absorbed by the target gas is small (<0.01%) and the number density of the target gas as well as the interaction volume remain constant, the PIE, plotted as a function of photon energy, can be viewed as relative photoionization cross sections. Possible processes observed in photoionization include direct ioni­ zation, autoionizatîon, ion-pair formation, dissociative ionization, and predissociation.^0 Among the different kinds of information which can be obtained by this technique are ionization energies (IE) and vibrational frequencies of molecular ions in various states, the appearance energies (AE) of fragment ions, and thermochemical information which can be derived from these values. This technique has proved to be a useful tool in the elucidation of the interaction of Rydberg states with continuum states. Information on potential energy surfaces can be explored by photoionization studies as well.^®*^^ 2 Much improvement has been made over early photoionization-mass spectrometric measurements, particularly with respect to optical resolution.The main difficulty in obtaining higher resolutions has been the low vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light intensities available. For this reason, much of the experimental advancement in photoionization has centered around two areas: in improving light intensity, and in increasing the number density of the target molecules in the photoionza- tion collision region. Much of the work on light sources has been 12 reviewed recently by Ng. As a result of low light intensities, gas cells have been used to hold the target gases at relatively high pressures in order to obtain better signal to noise ratios in ion intensity measurements. In these cases, unfortunately, the obtainable resolution was often limited by the rotational population of the gases themselves. For example, for diatomic molecules at room temperature the average rota­ tional energy is nearly 26 meV, and is even larger for polyatomic 12 molecules. Furthermore, the low frequency vibrational levels of target molecules will often be populated. In photoionization, the rotational and vibrational populations will broaden the features of the PIE spectra and make the Interpretation difficult. To overcome this difficulty, one response has been to cool the gas cell to lower temperatures. However, this is not possible for gases having high condensation points. An alternative to the gas cell method is the supersonic molecular beam technique. A supersonic beam involves the expansion of a gas through 3 a small orifice from a region of high pressure to a region of lower pressure, where the mean free path of molecules in the high pressure (stagnation) region is much shorter than the diameter of the orificeJ® The molecules undergo large numbers of collisions in the expansion, con­ verting some random trans!ational, rotational, and Vibrational energies of the molecules into directed mass flow. When the expansion is complete,the molecules are no longer in a Maxwel1-BoTtzman distribution of states. Instead: (1) the molecules are nearly unidirectional and are moving at essentially the same speed, (2) the number density in the direction of the flow is larger than în a effusive beam of the same initial temperature ^nd pressure, and (3) the effective rotational and vibrational temperatures of the gas are substantially reduced. The cooling of the expansion is more effective for some degrees of freedom than for others. The ultimate effective temperatures of a gas after expansion will usually by in the following order; ^trans ^rot ^vib ^o where T^, T^^^, Ty^^, and ^trans the stagnation temperature, and the effective rotational, vibrational, and translational temperatures, respectively. In most cases, the translational temperature will reach 17 nearly 0 K. Rotational temperatures as low as 0.17 K have been reported. 4 Vibrational temperatures of typically 20-50 K are readily attained depending upon the vibrational spacing, initial temperature, and expansion conditions. Thus, in comparison to.gas cell experiments, supersonic expansion of the target