Laser studies of gas-phase kinetics and photochemistry

Abstract

A brief review is presented of the advantages (and of some of the avoidable pitfalls) in the use of lasers in gas-phase kinetics and photochemistry. Commercially available laser sources for both photolysis and detection are listed, and the laser-based techniques of fluorescence, multiphoton ionisation and absorption are discussed. Ways of dealing with the common difficulties encountered with these methods, such as scattered light and saturation, are briefly described. Examples are given of the exploitation of characteristics of laser light in kinetic and photochemical studies, and these include high intensities, narrow bandwidths, polarisation and the use of short pulses in the sub-picosecond range.