Dynamics of ethylene photodissociation from rovibrational and translational energy distributions of H2products

Emerging laser-assisted vacuum processes for ultra-precision, high-yield manufacturing

Laser technology is a cutting-edge process with a unique photothermal response, precise site selectivity, and remote controllability. Laser technology has recently emerged as a novel tool in the semiconductor, display, and thin film industries by providing additional capabilities to existing high-vacuum equipment. The in situ and in operando laser assistance enables using multiple process environments with a level of complexity unachievable with conventional vacuum equipment. This broadens the usable range of process parameters and directly improves material properties, product precision, and device performance. This review paper examines the recent research trends in laser-assisted vacuum processes (LAVPs) as a vital tool for innovation in next-generation manufacturing processing equipment and addresses the unique characteristics and mechanisms of lasers exclusively used in each study. All the findings suggest that the LAVP can lead to methodological breakthroughs in dry etching, 2D material synthesis, and chemical vapor deposition for optoelectronic devices.

Ultrafast Photoisomerization of Ethylene Studied Using Time-Resolved Extreme Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectroscopy

The photoisomerization of isolated ethylene (ethene) was observed in real time from the Franck-Condon region in the ¹ππ* state to ground-state products using time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with extreme ultraviolet (EUV, 21.7 eV) probe pulses. A combination of filamentation four-wave mixing and high-order harmonic generation was employed to obtain a temporal resolution of 31 ± 2 fs. The nuclear wave packet created by a 160 nm pump pulse accesses C═C twisted geometries within 10 fs, and the population transfer from the excited to the ground state occurs within the next 20-30 fs. Formation of vibrationally highly excited ground-state molecules was observed in less than 45 fs, and they decayed with two time constants of 0.87 and >5 ps. The interpretation of the photoelectron spectra is supported by vertical ionization energies calculated using XMS-CASPT2 along geodesically interpolated reaction paths from the Franck-Condon region to the products.

Ethylene Intersystem Crossing Caught in the Act by Photofragment Sulfur Atoms

Ethylene, C₂H₄, the simplest π-bonded molecule, is of enormous fundamental and commercial importance. Its lowest triplet state, in which the CH₂ moieties occupy perpendicular planes, is well known from theory, but there has been no definitive experimental observation of this species. Here, velocity map imaging of the sulfur atoms in ethylene sulfide (c-C₂H₄S) photodissociation at 217 nm is used to reveal the internal state distribution of co-product ethylene. While both S (¹D) and S (³P) translational energy distributions display three distinct regions that find their origins in singlet and triplet excited states of c-C₂H₄S, respectively, the S (³P) distribution is dominated by a fourth, low-recoil region. In this region, the distribution is fully isotropic at a recoil of 9 ± 1 kcal/mol, corresponding to the opening of the triplet ethylene channel. Multireference calculations suggest that this photodissociation pathway is mediated by a hot, transient biradical CH₂CH₂S that strongly favors CH₂-hindered rotations in the predissociated complex. This photochemical ring-opening mechanism is invoked to account for the vibrational features observed in this low-recoil region, which are attributed to triplet ethylene relaxing to the torsional saddle point on the ground-state singlet surface. This study thereby gives for the first time the experimental confirmation of an adiabatic singlet-triplet splitting of 66 ± 1 kcal/mol and a torsional barrier height of 64 ± 1 kcal/mol in ethylene.

The 3s Rydberg state as a doorway state in the ultrafast dynamics of 1,1-difluoroethylene

The deactivation dynamics of 1,1-difluoroethylene after light excitation is studied within the surface hopping formalism in the presence of 3s and 3p Rydberg states using multi-state second order perturbation theory (MS-CASPT2).

Nonlinear dimensionality reduction for nonadiabatic dynamics: the influence of conical intersection topography on population transfer rates

Conical intersections play a critical role in the nonadiabatic relaxation of excited electronic states. However, there are an infinite number of these intersections and it is difficult to predict which are actually relevant. Furthermore, traditional descriptors such as intrinsic reaction coordinates and steepest descent paths often fail to adequately characterize excited state reactions due to their highly nonequilibrium nature. To address these deficiencies in the characterization of excited state mechanisms, we apply a nonlinear dimensionality reduction scheme (diffusion mapping) to generate reaction coordinates directly from ab initio multiple spawning dynamics calculations. As illustrated with various examples of photoisomerization dynamics, excited state reaction pathways can be derived directly from simulation data without any a priori specification of relevant coordinates. Furthermore, diffusion maps also reveal the influence of intersection topography on the efficiency of electronic population transfer, providing further evidence that peaked intersections promote nonadiabatic transitions more effectively than sloped intersections. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of nonlinear dimensionality reduction techniques as powerful tools for elucidating reaction mechanisms beyond the statistical description of processes on ground state potential energy surfaces.

Anharmonic Effect on Unimolecular Reactions with Application to the Photodissociation of Ethylene

The importance of anharmonic effect on dissociation of molecular systems, especially clusters, has been noted. In this paper, we shall present a theoretical approach that can carry out the first principle calculations of anharmonic canonical and microcanonical rate constants of unimolecular reactions within the framework of transition state theory. In the canonical case, it is essential to calculate the partition function of anharmonic oscillators; for convenience, the Morse oscillator potential will be used for demonstration in this paper. In the microcanical case, which involves the calculation of the total number of states for the activated complex and the density of states for the reactant, we make use of the fact that both the total number of states and the density of states can be expressed in the inverse Laplace transformation of the partition functions and that the inverse Laplace transformation can in turn be carried out by using the saddle-point method. We shall also show that using the theoretical approach presented in this paper the total number of states and density of states can be determined from thermodynamic properties and the difference between the method used in this paper and the thermodynamic model used by Krems and Nordholm will be given. To demonstrate the application of our theoretical approach, we chose the photodissociation of ethylene at 157 and 193 nm as an example.

Vibrationally mediated photodissociation of ethene isotopic variants preexcited to the fourth C–H stretch overtone

H and D photofragments produced via vibrationally mediated photodissociation of jet-cooled normal ethene (C2H4), 1,2-trans-d2-ethene (HDCCDH), and 1,1-d2-ethene (CH2CD2), initially excited to the fourth C-H stretch overtone region, were studied for the first time. H and D vibrational action spectra and Doppler profiles were measured. The action spectra include partially resolved features due to rotational cooling, while the monitored room temperature photoacoustic spectra exhibit only a very broad feature in each species. Simulation of the spectral contours allowed determination of the band types and origins, limited precision rotational constants, and linewidths, providing time scales for energy redistribution. The H and D Doppler profiles correspond to low average translational energies and show slight preferential C-H over C-D bond cleavage in the deuterated variants. The propensities toward H photofragments emerge even though the energy flow out of the initially prepared C-H stretch is on a picosecond time scale and the photodissociation occurs following internal conversion, indicating a more effective release of the light H atoms.

Nonadiabatic response of molecules to strong fields of picosecond, femtosecond, and subfemtosecond duration: An experimental study of the methane dication

The double ionization of methane has been accomplished using strong optical fields that are generated using moderately intense lasers, and by strong fields that are induced by fast-moving, highly charged ions. In the former case laser intensities in the range 10(14) W cm(-2) generate fields whose durations are of 35 ps and 36 fs while in the latter case equivalent fields last for only 200-300 as. The dynamics of the field-ionized electrons are different in the two temporal regimes, fast (picoseconds), and ultrafast (few tens of femtoseconds and subfemtoseconds). Our experiments show that nonadiabatic effects come into play in the ultrafast regime; we directly monitor such effects by measuring the kinetic energy that is released when a specific bond in the doubly charged methane molecular ion breaks.

Evidence of CH2O(ãA23) and C2H4(ãB1u3) produced from photodissociation of 1,3-trimethylene oxide at 193nm

We investigated the dissociative ionization of formaldehyde (CH(2)O) and ethene (C(2)H(4)) produced from photolysis of 1,3-trimethylene oxide at 193 nm using a molecular-beam apparatus and vacuum-ultraviolet radiation from an undulator for direct ionization. The CH(2)O (C(2)H(4)) product suffers from severe dissociative ionization to HCO(+) (C(2)H(3) (+) and C(2)H(2) (+)) even though photoionization energy is as small as 9.8 eV. Branching ratios of fragmentation of CH(2)O and C(2)H(4) following ionization are revealed as a function of kinetic energy of products using ionizing photons from 9.8 to 14.8 eV. Except several exceptions, branching ratios of daughter ions increase with increasing photon energy but decrease with increasing kinetic energy. The title reaction produces CH(2)O and C(2)H(4) mostly on electronic ground states but a few likely on triplet states; C(2)H(4) (a(3)B(1u)) seems to have a yield greater than CH(2)O (a(3)A(2)). The distinct features observed at small kinetic energies of daughter ions are attributed to dissociative ionization of photoproducts CH(2)O (a(3)A(2)) and C(2)H(4) (a(3)B(1u)). The observation of triplet products indicates that intersystem crossing occurs prior to fragmentation of 1,3-trimethylene oxide.

Site and Isotopic Effects on the Angular Anisotropy of Products in the Photodissociation of Ethene at 157 nm

We measured angular-anisotropy parameters beta(E(t)) of fragments from photolysis of ethene and four isotopic variants at 157 nm using photo-fragment translational spectroscopy and selective photoionization. The averaged beta value of products ranges from -0.17 to 0.10, depending on dissociation pathways. Angular distributions of atomic hydrogen produced from C(2)H(4) and C(2)D(4) are isotropic. For dissociation into C(2)H(2) + H(2), beta has a small negative value whereas dissociation into C(2)D(2) + D(2) has an isotropic angular distribution. The photolysis of dideuterated ethene reveals site and isotopic effects on the angular distributions of products; products H(2), HD, and D(2) from photolysis of 1,1-CH(2)CD(2) have negative, nearly zero, and positive values of beta, respectively. Molecular hydrogen from photolysis of 1,2-cis-CHDCHD has a negative beta value and the anisotropy has a trend D(2) > H(2) > HD. Photolysis of 1,2-trans-CHDCDH produced a result similar to photolysis of 1,2-cis-CHDCHD for the angular anisotropy of molecular hydrogen except slightly more isotropic. A calculation of optimized geometries of ethene in the ground electronic state and pertinent transition structures enables a qualitative interpretation of the site and isotopic effects on the angular anisotropy of products. We deduce that the photoexcited state of ethene at 157 nm has a major character (1)B(1u) that produces a transition dipolar moment parallel to the C=C bond.

Dynamics of photodissociation of ethylene and its isotopomers at 157 nm: Branching ratios and kinetic-energy distributions

We investigated the photodissociation of ethylene and its isotopomers at 157 nm in a molecular-beam apparatus using photofragment translational spectroscopy combined with synchrotron-based photoionization. The time-of-flight (TOF) spectra of all photofragments H, H(2), C(2)H(2), C(2)H(3), and their deuterium isotopic variants were recorded, from which kinetic-energy distributions P(E(t)) and branching ratios were obtained. Most C(2)H(3) spontaneously dissociates to C(2)H(2)+H and only C(2)H(3) with small internal energy survives. The C(2)H(2) fragment due to H(2) elimination is observed leading the C(2)H(2) fragment due to 2H elimination in TOF distribution because the former process has more kinetic-energy release. An analogous result is observed for C(2)D(4) photolysis. That elimination of molecular hydrogen is site-specific and is revealed from photolysis of three dideuterated ethylene isotopomers, in which an isotopic effect plays a significant role. Observations of C(2)D(2)+2H and C(2)H(2)+2D product channels in the photolysis of 1,1-CH(2)CD(2) provide evidence for migrations of H and D atoms. A comparison with previous experimental and theoretical results is made.

Dynamics of photodissociation of 3,3,3-d3-propene at 157 nm: Site effect and hydrogen migration

In a preceding paper [Lee et al., J. Chem. Phys. 119, 827 (2003)], we measured the kinetic-energy distributions P(E(t)) and branching ratios of products from photolysis of propene at 157 nm using time-of-flight spectroscopy combined with photoionization. In the present work, hydrogen migration before fragmentation and a site effect on P(E(t)) and branching ratios were revealed from the photodissociation of CD(3)CHCH(2). Labeling of the methyl group with deuterium enabled us to differentiate between elimination of atomic and molecular hydrogen from the vinyl moiety and from the methyl moiety; the P(E(t)) and relative yields for the formation of H, D, H(2), HD, and D(2) were measured. Deuterium labeling allowed us to also differentiate the fragmentation after hydrogen transfer from that before hydrogen migration. The observation of isotopic variants of CD(3) and C(2)H(3) radicals in the C-C bond cleavage provides evidence for hydrogen transfer of propene because of site specificity. The fraction of fragmentation after hydrogen transfer is estimated to be 25%. The isotope-specific branching ratios for five dissociation pathways of CD(3)CHCH(2) were evaluated.

Nonadiabatic Multielectron Dynamics in Strong Field Molecular Ionization

We report the observation of a general strong field ionization mechanism due to highly nonadiabatic multielectron excitation dynamics in polyatomic molecules. We observe that such excitation mechanisms greatly affect molecular ionization, fragmentation, and energetics. We characterized this phenomenon as a function of optical frequency, intensity, and molecular properties.