Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation photoelectron spectroscopy of the ClO radical: the C 2 sigma- state

A (2 + 1) one-colour resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionisation study is carried out on the C 2 sigma- state of the ClO radical in the one-photon energy range 29,500-31,250 cm-1. The ClO radical is produced by one-photon photolysis of ClO2 employing 359.2 nm photons derived from a separate laser. In this way a significant concentration of vibrationally excited ClO in its spin-orbit split X 2 pi omega (omega = 3/2 or 1/2) electronic ground state is produced. In addition to mass-resolved excitation spectra, kinetic-energy resolved photoelectron spectra for the X 3 sigma-(v+)<--C 2 sigma-(v' = 3-5) transitions are measured. These transitions are not completely Frank-Condon diagonal, and indicate a decrease in bond length on removal of the Rydberg electron from the C 2 sigma- state. In addition to an unambiguous assignment of the C 2 sigma- state, valuable information is obtained on the degree of vibrational excitation with which the nascent ClO radical is formed in the photolysis of ClO2. Analysis of the photoelectron spectra is supported by Franck-Condon calculations based on potential energy curves either from experimental spectroscopic parameters, or obtained by theoretical ab initio methods.

CARS microscopy with folded BoxCARS phasematching

Three-dimensional microscopy based on coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) is a powerful new imaging technique, in which the contrast arises from molecular vibrations. Based on a simple numerical model, it is shown how the CARS interaction volume depends on the focusing parameters and the type of phasematching used. Collinear phasematching yields an ellipsoidal interaction volume, with lateral dimensions that readily cause vignetting of the CARS signal emission at the collection microscope objective. A folded BoxCARS phasematching geometry, on the other hand, results in an almost cylindrical interaction volume - at the cost of a reduced resolution, for which the possible vignetting of the CARS emission is much reduced. In addition, this type of phasematching provides spatial separation of the signal from the input laser beams, permitting simple signal detection of low frequency vibrational modes. Calculations show that when CARS is performed in a microscopic volume, the phasematching restraint on tuning over the vibrational band is strongly relaxed. A first example of CARS imaging using a folded BoxCARS imaging geometry is shown.