Extensive Electron-Nuclear Angular Momentum Exchange in Vibrational Autoionization of np and nf Rydberg States of NO (original) (raw)

Vibrational autoionization of individual rotational levels of np (n 1) and nf (n 1) Rydberg states of nitric oxide (NO) with 11 # n # 15 have been studied employing two-color double-resonance excitation via the NO A 2 S 1 (n i 1) state. The rotational state distributions of the resulting NO 1 X 1 S 1 (n 1 0) ion have been determined by time-of-flight photoelectron spectroscopy. These measurements show the occurrence of angular momentum exchange between the outgoing electron and the molecular-ion core, a process that has been commonly neglected in theoretical treatments of vibrational autoionization.