- Photodissociation of SO 2 at 200 nm: Evidence of an anisotropy effect

This chapter deals with the ultrafast dynamics of SO 2 , SO 2 clusters, and SO 2 clustered with water. The experiments investigate both bound and dissociative processes in the monomer and cluster species. Currently, the interest lies in sulfur isotope effects in the photodissociation of SO 2 excited by 200 nm pulses to the C/D state. The scientific community is interested in isotope effects in heavy atoms for fundamental reasons as well as for the information inferred about the earth's early atmosphere. A preliminary investigation of SO 2 yields evidence for anisotropy effects. The polarization of the pump and probe beam are found to have a profound effect on the ability to observe the neutral state dynamics of SO fragments that result from the photodissociation of SO 2 with 200 nm light. The evidence for these observations as well as plausible explanations of the results is presented.