NO rotational orientation following 308 nm photodissociation of NO2

The rotational angular momentum orientation and alignment of the NO fragmen ts generated via linearly polarized 308 nm photodissociation of NO2 has bee n determined using laser induced fluorescence. By observing the dependence of the photofragment NO Doppler-resolved transition line shapes on experime ntal geometry, it has proved possible to determine multipole moments of the photofragment angular momentum distribution up to, and including, rank 3. The implications of the results for the mechanism of the dissociation are c onsidered.