Reactions of velocity-aligned atoms probed by Doppler profiles: H+O2→OH+O

Abstract

Final state resolved vector properties of the reaction H (2S)+O2(3Σ−g)→OH(2Π)+O(3P) have been measured using Doppler spectroscopy. Velocity-aligned H atoms were generated by photodissociation of H2S with linearly polarized ArF excimer laser light. The correlated velocity and angular momentum distribution of nascent OH reaction products was probed by laser induced fluorescence. Techniques are described for analyzing the line shapes, modeling the bipolar moments of the OH velocity and angular momentum distribution as parametric functions of the scattering angle. Distinctive Doppler-broadened lineshapes indicate scattering angle distributions with a strong forward and a weaker backward maximum. A qualitatively different angular momentum polarization for the two lambda doublet components of the OH product is required to explain the Doppler profiles.