Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.117, No.6, 2619-2628, 2002
Low lying electronic states of rare gas-oxide anions: Photoelectron spectroscopy of complexes of O- with Ar, Kr, Xe, and N-2
The negative ion photoelectron spectra of the oxide anion complexes O(-)Rg, Rg=Ar, Kr, and Xe, and O-N2 have been recorded. In each spectrum, two partially resolved peaks were observed, their relative intensities varying with source conditions. These peaks were assigned to photodetachment transitions from the (2)Sigma ground state and unresolved (2)Pi(3/2,1/2) low-lying excited states of the anion. From our data we find dissociation energies and bond lengths for the (2)Sigma and (2)Pi anion states. Periodic trends in the bond length and dissociation energy are examined and compared to those in the isoelectronic neutral halogen rare gas systems and the effect of anisotropy in the interatomic potential and relative interaction strength is examined. From our data we find that the dissociation energies in the anion system are much larger but that the (2)Sigma-(2)Pi splitting is significantly lower. In addition to the diatomic clusters, we report the photoelectron spectra of the O-Krn=2-5 and O-Xen=2-3 clusters and tabulate the vertical detachment energies and peak widths. From a comparison of the energetics and peak broadening we are able to make a determination of the general structure of the n=2 and n=3 clusters.