ON THE ROLE OF THE PARENT CATION IN THE DYNAMICS OF FORMATION OF LASER-INDUCED HYDRATED ELECTRONS

A short account is given of the continuum and molecular descriptions of the formation of hydrated electrons. Starting with a scheme of hydration dynamics of laser-induced electrons that accounts for the formation of hydrated electrons without invoking the "direct" ionization of water. a new model explaining the dynamics of electron hydration in terms of a molecular description is proposed. According to this model, the parent cation plays an active role in the trapping of electrons, deepening electron traps that preexist in the liquid before excitation. Consequences of this description to the transient absorption spectra are briefly discussed.