PHOTOELECTRON PHOTOFRAGMENT ION RECOIL VECTOR CORRELATIONS IN THE DISSOCIATIVE PHOTOIONIZATION OF PF3 AT HE-1 AND NE-1 IONIZING WAVELENGTHS

A comparative study of the photoionization and dissociation of the A State of PF3+ at two different resonance line ionizing wavelengths (He I and Ne I) is presented. Using a photoelectron-photoion coincidence (PEPICO) technique, energy selected ions are prepared and fragment ion kinetic energy distributions derived. The energetics and dynamics of the ion fragmentation process are discussed and a simple impulsive dissociation model is proposed. An angular correlation between the recoil directions of ejected electrons and fragment ions is identified and is especially pronounced for the He I data. An interpretation in terms of an anisotropic body-frame photoelectron angular distribution is presented, from which the likely presence of a shape resonance in the A state photoionization dynamics around lambda=584 angstrom is inferred. This accords with the observation of resonances in core photoionization studies of PF3.