As a step towards in situ probing of the rotational-state distribution of H/sub 3//sup +/ ions in a stored beam, we have realized their photodissociation in a storage ring by a parallel ultraviolet laser beam. The decay of the photodissociation signal of H/sub 3//sup +/ for 4.9 eV photons into the channel H/sub 2//sup +/ + H was identified and showed a time constant of about 2 ms, typical for vibrational levels of H/sub 3//sup +/ over a wide range of binding energies. The photodissociation products of H/sub 3//sup +/ at this photon energy were further investigated for a single pass ion beam by kinetic energy release and charge-exchange measurements.
Petrignani, A., Urbain, X., Berg, M., Bing, D., Buhr, H., Grieser, M., Jordon-Thaden, B., Krantz, C., Mendes, M. B., Menk, S., Novotny, O., Novotny, S., Orlov, D. A., Sorg, T., Stu uml tzel, J., & Wolf, A. (2009). Ultraviolet photodissociation of H/sub 3//sup +/. XXVI International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions, Vol. 194, 022101 (1 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/194/2/022101