Circular dichroism in photoelectron images from aligned nitric oxide molecules

Sen, Ananya; Pratt, S.T.; Reid, Katharine L.

Abstract

We have used velocity map photoelectron imaging to study circular dichroism of the photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) of nitric oxide following two-color resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization via selected rotational levels of the A ²∑⁺ , v' = 0 state. By using a circularly polarized pump beam and a counter-propagating, circularly polarized probe beam, cylindrical symmetry is preserved in the ionization process, and the images can be reconstructed using standard algorithms. The VMI set up enables individual ion rotational states to be resolved with excellent collection efficiency, rendering the measurements considerably simpler to perform than previous measurements conducted with a conventional photoelectron spectrometer. The results demonstrate that circular dichroism is observed even when cylindrical symmetry is maintained, and serve as a reminder that dichroism is a general feature of the multiphoton ionization of atoms and molecules. The observed PADs are in good agreement with calculations based on parameters extracted from previous experimental results obtained by using a time-of-flight electron spectrometer.

Citation

Sen, A., Pratt, S., & Reid, K. L. (2017). Circular dichroism in photoelectron images from aligned nitric oxide molecules. Journal of Chemical Physics, 147(1), Article 013927. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4982218

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 13, 2017
• Publication Date: May 3, 2017
• Deposit Date: May 9, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: May 9, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Chemical Physics
• Print ISSN: 0021-9606
• Electronic ISSN: 1089-7690
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 147
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 013927
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4982218
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/859312
• Publisher URL: http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4982218
• Additional Information: This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. The following article appeared in The Journal of Chemical Physics 147, 013927 (2017); doi: 10.1063/1.4982218and may be found at http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4982218