A complete determination of the rotational and vibrational distributions in
the OH/OD(A (2)Sigma(+)) fragments which result from the VUV photodissocia
tion of H2O/D2O as a function of excitation energy is presented. VUV excita
tion was performed at eight different wavelengths (eleven for D2O) in the r
ange between 132 and 124 nm. The vibrational branching ratios show a relati
vely fast rise of the vibrational excitation at threshold followed by a pla
teau. The general trend of the experimental results is well reproduced by a
phase space theory calculation and by ab initio calculations reported by v
an Hemert and van Harrevelt. Rotational distributions seem to depend only o
n the available excess energy and, for a given excess energy appear to be s
imilar for all vibrational levels in OH and OD. (C) 2000 American Institute
of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)01413-6].