Direct determination of the ionization energies of FeO and CuO with VUV radiation

• DOI: 10.1063/1.2032947
• Publication Date: 2005-09-20T22:00:52Z
• Authors: Ricardo B. Metz; Christophe Nicolas; Musahid Ahmed; Stephen R. Leone
• Keywords: Bond-dissociation energy; Autoionization; Thermal ionization

Photoionization efficiency curves were measured for gas-phase FeO and CuO using tunable vacuum-ultraviolet radiation at the Advanced Light Source. The molecules are prepared laser ablation of a metal-oxide powder in novel high-repetition-rate source thermally moderated supersonic expansion. These measurements provide first directly ionization energy CuO, IE(CuO)=9.41±0.01eV. direct measurement also gives greatly improved FeO, IE(FeO)=8.56±0.01eV. connects dissociation energies neutral cation, leading to refined bond strength cation: D0(Fe+–O)=3.52±0.02eV. A dramatic increase photoionization cross section 0.36eV above threshold is assigned autoionization involving one or more low-lying quartet states FeO+. interaction between sextet ground state FeO+ key understanding oxidation hydrogen methane by FeO+, these experiments experimental observation