Oxygen atom Rydberg time-of-flight spectroscopy

Abstract

The Rydberg atom time-of-flight method has been employed for velocity, angular and spin–orbit state-resolved detection of oxygen atoms, O (3PJ). The atoms were “tagged” by double-resonance two-photon excitation to high-n Rydberg levels and subsequently field ionized at a detector. The method was characterized by studying a well-known system, the photodissociation of NO2 at 355 nm. From the O atom time-of-flight spectra, the NO vibrational distribution for different O (3PJ) levels was obtained, with NO (v=1) rotational structure partially resolved.