OBSERVATION OF THE CORRELATED O P-3(J1), P-3(J2) STATE DISTRIBUTION FROM THE PREDISSOCIATION OF O-2 B (3)SIGMA(-)(U)

A fast beam photofragment translational spectroscopy study of the pred issociation of the O-2 B (3) Sigma(u)(-) state is presented. A 5 keV b eam of vibrationally excited O-2 X (3) Sigma(g)(-) is prepared via pho todetachment of O-2(-). The B (3) Sigma(u)(-) (v' = 7) <-- X (3) Sigma (g)(-) (v'' = 4) transition of the Schumann-Runge band is then excited , resulting in predissociation to two O P-3(j) atoms. We determine the photofragment kinetic energy angular distribution using a time- and p osition-sensitive detector. Our energy resolution (10 meV) is sufficie nt to resolve the energy splittings of the O atom spin-orbit levels, e nabling us to determine the correlated (j(1), j(2)) fine structure dis tribution for the photofragments. These results do not appear to be co nsistent with predictions based on a recent model of O-2 B (3) Sigma(u )(-) state predissociation.