Sliced fluorescence imaging: a versatile method to study photo-induced dynamic processes

To reduce the image blurring which originates from contributions of a cylindrical array of photolysis events in a photo-induced experiment, a variant of fluorescence imaging techniques has been developed to study photodissociation dynamics and collisional relaxation processes in the bulk. The experimental arrangement utilizes sliced imaging techniques of photofragments by the laser-induced fluorescence detection scheme. An unconventional procedure is employed to guide the photolysis laser in the viewing direction of the imaging detector with an appropriate obstruction. The sliced image in the direction perpendicular to the photolysis laser is equivalent to a two-dimensional projection of the fluorescence image of photoproducts from a single photolysis center. Experimental images of state-selected CN photofragments from the ICN photodissociation are presented to illustrate the versatility of the present method.