PHOTODISSOCIATION DYNAMICS OF CARBON SUBOXIDE AT 193-NM AND 248-NM

The nascent CO vibrational, rotational, and translational energies, following the UV photolysis of carbon suboxide at 193 and 248 nm, were determined by time-resolved tunable diode laser infrared absorption spectroscopy. A statistical model for energy disposal fits the experimentally observed vibrational distributions and average translational energies at both photolysis wavelengths. The model fails to account for the experimental rotational distributions that are much "colder" than the model predictions. An impulsive model for dissociation could not account for the observed energy partitioning at both photolysis wavelengths. These results suggest that at 193 nm the primary photoproducts are CO(X1-SIGMA+) and C2O(approximately a 1-DELTA), and that at 248 nm the primary photoproducts are CO(X1-SIGMA+) and C2O(approximately X3-SIGMA-).