MATRIX-ISOLATION STUDY OF THE INTERACTION OF EXCITED NEON ATOMS WITH O-3 - INFRARED-SPECTRUM OF O-3(-) AND EVIDENCE FOR THE STABILIZATION OF O-2-CENTER-DOT-CENTER-DOT-CENTER-DOT-O-4(+)

When a Ne:O-3 sample is codeposited at approximately 5 K with neon ato ms that have been excited in a microwave discharge, the most prominent infrared absorptions of the resulting solid are contributed by trans- and cyc-O-4(+) and by O-3(-). The failure to detect infrared absorpti ons of O-3(+) is consistent with the initial formation of that species in one or more dissociative excited states. The nu(3) absorption of O -3(-) appears at 796.3 cm(-1), close to its position in earlier argon- matrix experiments in which photoionization of an alkali metal atom pr ovided the electron source and in which diffusion of the atomic cation would result in the stabilization of appreciable M(+)O(3)(-). The ide ntification of O-3(-) isolated in solid neon is supported by observati ons of O-3(-) generated from isotopically substituted Ne:O-2:N2O sampl es, also codeposited with excited neon atoms. An upper bound of 810 cm (-1) is estimated for the gas-phase band center of nu(3) of O-3(-). In frared absorptions which grow on mild warmup of the sample are tentati vely assigned to an O-2 ... O-4(+) complex. (C) 1996 American Institut e of Physics.