RESONANCE-ENHANCED MULTIPHOTON-IONIZATION PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY OF EVEN-PARITY AUTOIONIZING RYDBERG STATES OF ATOMIC SULFUR

Several previously unobserved Rydberg states of the sulphur atom above the lowest ionization threshold are identified and assigned using (2 + 1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton-ionization photoelectron spectrosc opy. All states were accessed by two-photon transitions from either th e P-3 ground or the D-1 excited state, prepared by in situ photodissoc iation of H2S. The observed states derive from the (D-2(0))5p and (P-2 (0))4y configurations. For the (D-2(0))5p F-3 and (P-2(0))4p D-3 tripl ets, extensive photoelectron spectroscopic studies enable a detailed c omparison of the autoionization and photoionization rates of these sta tes. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.