Photoinduced Reaction Pathways of HCl Dimers in an Argon Matrix

Abstract

The photoinduced reaction of HCl dimers upon 193 nm excitation is demonstrated by the formation of $Cl_{2}$ monomers. The products were detected by laser induced fluorescence from the $Cl_{2}A^{\prime} \rightarrow X$ transition. Two mechanisms for the formation of $Cl_{2}$ are considered. The first requires two sequential H atom cage exit steps. Alternatively, a single step mechanism for the caged reaction is considered. A statistical model for deriving the rate constant of the caged reaction will be presented.