Photodissociation and photodetachment of molecular negative ions. VII. Ions formed in CO2/O2/H2O mixtures, 3500–5300 Å

Abstract
Photodestruction cross sections have been measured for CO3, CO3⋅H2O, CO4, CO4⋅H2O, HCO3, and HCO3⋅H2O at various ion laser and dye laser wavelengths between 5300 and 3500 Å using a drift tube mass spectrometer as the source of the ions. CO3 shows a structureless peak centered about 4500 Å, which is attributed to photodissociation. The possible excitation of CO3 in these studies was investigated in detail and no evidence was found for any excitation. Additional evidence is presented which indicates that the bond energy D (CO2–O) is less than or equal to 1.9 eV. The CO3⋅H2O cross section decreases smoothly with decreasing wavelength over this wavelength range. CO4 photodestruction was observed at 3500 Å, but the other ions listed above have cross sections below 10−19 cm2, and possibly zero, throughout this spectral region.