Imaging Isocyanic Acid Photodissociation at 193 nm: the NH(a¹Δ)+ CO(X¹Σ⁺) Channel

The photodissociation dynamics of isocyanic acid (HNCO) has been studied by the timesliced velocity map ion imaging technique at 193 nm. The NH(aΔ) products were measured via (2+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization. Images have been accumulated for the NH(aΔ) rotational states in the ground and vibrational excited state (v=0 and 1). The center-of-mass translational energy distribution derived from the NH(aΔ) images implies that the CO vibrational distributions are inverted for most of the measured NH(v|j) internal states. The anisotropic product angular distribution observed indicates a rapid dissociation process for the N-C bond cleavage. A bimodal rotational state distribution of CO(v) has been observed, this result implies that isocyanic acid dissociates in the S₁ state in two different pathways.