ZERO KINETIC ENERGY-PULSED FIELD-IONIZATION AND RESONANCE-ENHANCED MULTIPHOTON IONIZATION PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY - IONIZATION DYNAMICS OF RYDBERG STATES IN HBR

The results of rotationally resolved resonance enhanced multiphoton io nization photoelectron spectroscopy and zero kinetic energy-pulsed fie ld ionization studies on HBr via various rotational levels of the F-1 Delta(2) and f(3) Delta(2) Rydberg states are reported. These studies lead to an accurate determination of the lowest ionization threshold a s 94 098.9+/-1 cm(-1). Observed rotational and spin-orbit branching ra tios are compared to the results of ab initio calculations. The differ ences between theory and experiment highlight the dominant role of rot ational and spin-orbit interactions for the dynamic properties of the high-n Rydberg states involved in the pulsed field ionization process. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.