Desorption Dynamics of Rb_2 Molecules off the Surface of Helium Nanodroplets
arXiv:1608.06463 · doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.6b05732
Abstract
The desorption dynamics of rubidium dimers (Rb_2) off the surface of helium nanodroplets induced by laser excitation is studied employing both nanosecond and femtosecond ion imaging spectroscopy. Similarly to alkali metal atoms, we find that the Rb_2 desorption process resembles the dissociation of a diatomic molecule. However, both angular and energy distributions of detected Rb_2^+ ions appear to be most crucially determined by the Rb_2 intramolecular degrees of freedom rather than by those of the Rb_2He_N complex. The pump-probe dynamics of Rb_2^+ is found to be slower than that of Rb^+ pointing at a weaker effective guest-host repulsion for excited molecules than for single atoms.
accepted by J. Phys. Chem. A (2016)