Quantitative studies of the photoabsorption of carbonyl sulphide in the valence-shell, S 2p,2s and C 1s inner-shell regions (4–360 eV) by dipole electron impact spectroscopies

Resonance-state selective photodissociation dynamics of OCS + hv → CS(X1Σ+) + O(3Pj=2,1,0) via the 21Σ+ state

Understanding vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of Carbonyl sulfide (OCS) is of considerable importance in the study of atmospheric chemistry. Yet, photodissociation dynamics of the CS(X1Σ+) + O(3Pj=2,1,0) channels following excitation to the 21Σ+(ν1',1,0) state has not been clearly understood so far. Here, we investigate the O(3Pj=2,1,0) elimination dissociation processes in the resonance-state selective photodissociation of OCS between 147.24 and 156.48 nm by using the time-sliced velocity-mapped ion imaging technique. The total kinetic energy release spectra are found to exhibit highly structured profiles, indicative of the formation of a broad range of vibrational states of CS(1Σ+). The fitted CS(1Σ+) vibrational state distributions differ for the three 3Pj spin-orbit states, but a general trend of the inverted characteristics is observed. Additionally, the wavelength-dependent behaviors are also observed in the vibrational populations for CS(1Σ+, v). The CS(X1Σ+, v = 0) has a significantly strong population at several shorter wavelengths, and the most populated CS(X1Σ+, v) is gradually transferred to a higher vibrational state with the decrease in the photolysis wavelength. The measured overall β-values for the three 3Pj spin-orbit channels slightly increase and then abruptly decrease as the photolysis wavelength increases, while the vibrational dependences of β-values show an irregularly decreasing trend with increasing CS(1Σ+) vibrational excitation at all studied photolysis wavelengths. The comparison of the experimental observations for this titled channel and the S(3Pj) channel reveals that two different intersystem crossing mechanisms may be involved in the formation of the CS(X1Σ+) + O(3Pj=2,1,0) photoproducts via the 21Σ+ state.

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation of OCS via the 21Σ+ state: the S(1D2) elimination channel

The photodissociation of OCS is necessary to model the primary photochemical processes of OCS in the global cycling of sulfur and interstellar photochemistry. Here, by combining the time-sliced velocity-map ion imaging technique with the single vacuum ultraviolet photon ionization method, we have studied the CO(¹Σ⁺, v) + S(¹D₂) photoproduct channel from the OCS photodissociation via the eight different vibrational resonances ( = 1-8) in the 2¹Σ⁺(, 1, 0) ← X¹Σ⁺(0, 0, 0) band. From the measured S(¹D₂) images, the wavelength-dependent CO(¹Σ⁺, v) vibrational state populations have been obtained in the wavelength range of 142.98-154.37 nm. The majority of the CO(¹Σ⁺, v) photoproducts are shown to abruptly populate from low vibrational states to high vibrational states as the photolysis wavelength decreases from 152.38 to 148.92 nm. The anisotropy parameters (β) for the CO(¹Σ⁺, v) + S(¹D₂) channel have also been determined from the images of the S(¹D₂) photoproducts. It is found that the vibrational state-specific β-values present a similar decreasing trend with increasing CO vibrational excitation for all the eight vibrational resonances of OCS*(2¹Σ⁺). These observations indicate that there is a possibility that more than one non-adiabatic dissociation pathways with different dissociation lifetimes are involved in the formation of CO(¹Σ⁺) + S(¹D₂) photoproducts from the initial vibronic levels of the 2¹Σ⁺ state to the final dissociative state.

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of OCS + hv → CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) via the E and F Rydberg states

The state-resolved photodissociation of the CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) photoproduct channel, formed by vacuum ultraviolet photoexcitation of OCS to a progression of the symmetric stretching vibration (ν1') in the E and F states, has been investigated by using the time-sliced velocity map ion imaging technique. The total kinetic energy release spectra and the vibrational state specific anisotropy parameters (β) were obtained based on the raw images of S(1S0) photoproducts detected in the wavelength ranges of 134.40-140.98 nm, respectively. Except for vibrational band origins, the CO(1Σ+) photoproducts are found to have more significant populations at highly vibrationally excited states as the symmetric stretching vibrational excitation of the E and F states increases. Furthermore, the vibrational-state specific β values for the CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) channel via the E and F states both show a sudden change from negative to positive in the vicinity of moderately vibronic levels of the E and F states. This anomalous phenomenon suggests that multiple excited states with different symmetries are involved in the photoexcitation process at relatively short photolysis wavelengths due to the strong vibronic couplings existing in the higher vibronic levels of the E and F states, and the formation of CO(1Σ+) + S(1S0) photoproducts may proceed by different nonadiabatic interactions from the prepared excited states to the lower dissociative state 1Σ+, with strong dependence of the initially symmetric stretching excitation in the Rydberg-type transitions.

Photodissociation Dynamics of OCS near 150 nm: The S(1SJ=0) and S(3PJ=2,1,0) Product Channels

Vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) was investigated by using the time-sliced velocity map ion imaging technique. Images of the S(¹S_J=0) and S(³P_J=2,1,0) photofragments formed in the OCS photodissociation were acquired at six photolysis wavelengths from 147.24 to 156.48 nm. Vibrational states of the CO coproducts were partially resolved and identified in the images. Two main dissociation product channels, namely, the spin-allowed S(¹S_J=0) + CO(X¹Σ_g⁺) and spin-forbidden S(³P_J=2,1,0) + CO(X¹Σ_g⁺), were observed. At each photolysis wavelength, the total kinetic energy releases, the relative population of different CO vibrational states, and the anisotropic parameters were derived. Variations of the relative population were noticed between different spin-orbit states of the S(³P_J) channel. It was found that the S(¹S_J=0) + CO(X¹Σ_g⁺) channel is dominated by the ¹Σ⁺ ← ¹Σ⁺ parallel transition of OCS. Interestingly, two types of anisotropic parameters are found at different photolysis wavelengths for the spin-forbidden S(³P_J=2,1,0) + CO(X¹Σ_g⁺) product channel. The anisotropic parameters at 147.24 and 150.70 nm are significantly smaller than at the other four photolysis wavelengths. This phenomenon indicates two different nonadiabatic pathways are responsible for the spin-forbidden channels, which is consistent with the barrier structure in the exit channel of one of the triplet states.

Electronic excitation of carbonyl sulphide (COS) by high-resolution vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption and electron-impact spectroscopy in the energy region from 4 to 11 eV

The electronic state spectroscopy of carbonyl sulphide, COS, has been investigated using high resolution vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy in the energy range of 4.0-10.8 eV. The spectrum reveals several new features not previously reported in the literature. Vibronic structure has been observed, notably in the low energy absorption dipole forbidden band assigned to the (4π←3π) ((1)Δ←(1)Σ(+)) transition, with a new weak transition assigned to ((1)Σ(-)←(1)Σ(+)) reported here for the first time. The absolute optical oscillator strengths are determined for ground state to (1)Σ(+) and (1)Π transitions. Based on our recent measurements of differential cross sections for the optically allowed ((1)Σ(+) and (1)Π) transitions of COS by electron impact, the optical oscillator strength f0 value and integral cross sections (ICSs) are derived by applying a generalized oscillator strength analysis. Subsequently, ICSs predicted by the scaling are confirmed down to 60 eV in the intermediate energy region. The measured absolute photoabsorption cross sections have been used to calculate the photolysis lifetime of carbonyl sulphide in the upper stratosphere (20-50 km).

Probing the molecular environment using spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

Angle- and spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with linearly and circularly polarized synchrotron radiation were used to study the electronic structure of model triatomic molecules, hydrogen sulfide, and carbonyl sulfide. The spin-polarization measurements of the molecular field split components of the S 2p photolines revealed a strong effect of the different molecular environments. The validity of simple atomic models to explain the results is discussed.