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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Measurement of Ultrafast Vibrational Coherences in Polyatomic Radical Cations with Strong-Field Adiabatic Ionization
Published on: August 6, 2018
Statistical and nonstatistical nonadiabatic photodissociation from the first excited state of the hydroxymethyl
1Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Abstract:
Photodissociation of hydroxymethyl (H(2)COD) from the first excited state, a Rydberg 3s state, can produce either H+HCOD or H(2)CO+D. These processes involve a seam of conical intersections. An analysis of the seam is reported based on a pointwise determination of the three gradient vectors that characterize a conical intersection: the energy difference gradient and the coupling gradient, which span the branching space, and the gradient of the average energy. These data are used to understand why H, but not D is produced at energies near threshold, the difference in the recoil anisotropy for H and D dissociation, and whether H or D will be produced impulsively or after formation of an intermediate complex.
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