Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.113, No.16, 4249-4254, 2009
Uncovering a Spectrally Hidden REMPI Band of CD3 by Ion Imaging Spectroscopy of the Products of the Cl + CHD3(1(1)3(1)) Reaction
In the course of studying the reaction dynamics of Cl + CHD3(1(1)3(1)) - HCl + CD3, an unexpected ring-like feature was observed on the CD3(0(0)(0)) product image. By using the technique of ion imaging spectroscopy, the mysterious feature was tentatively ascribed to the formation of the vibrationally excited CD3(3(1)4(1))) product from the above combination-band excited reaction. The intriguing aspect of the present finding is that the corresponding (2+1)-REMPI band of CD3(3 broken vertical bar 4 broken vertical bar)) appears totally hidden by the more intense CD3(0(0)(0)) origin band, yet the two-dimensional nature of the ion imaging technique enables us to decipher its spectral character and extract the otherwise lost dynamical information.