268 nm photodissociation of ClN3: a femtosecond velocity-map imaging study

Abstract

We report the first time-resolved study of the photochemistry of chlorine azide (ClN₃) by femtosecond velocity-map imaging (fs-VMI). The dissociation dynamics are initiated at 4.6 eV and the photofragments are detected by multiphoton ionization using an intense laser field centered at 803 nm. A dissociation time of 262 ± 38 fs was measured from the rising time of the co-fragments N₃ and Cl. The time dependency of the angular distribution of N₃, which converges from β₂ ∼ 2 to β₂ = 1.61 ± 0.07 in 170 ± 45 fs, reveals the parallel nature of the transition dipole moment.