A Study on the Structure and Photodetachment Dynamics of Copper Based Molecular Anions Using Photoelectron Spectroscopy

This dissertation represents a study of the effects of electron molecule interactions in the detachment and dissociation dynamics of copper based molecular anions. Results are presented on the photodetachment of small copper oxide CuOn– (n = 1, 2) and copper fluoride CuFn– (n = 1, 2) molecular anions. Effects of different resonances are explored using the photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) and the relative intensity variations in vibrational channel cross sections. The specific resonances studied include dipole bound resonances, in which the electric dipole moment of the neutral molecule captures the outgoing electron, and electronic Feshbach resonances, in which the anion undergoes absorption to an excited anion state (lying energetically above the neutral) followed by relaxation via autodetachment into the electronic continuum. In addition to electron scattering resonances, the effects of dissociation dynamics on linear CuO2– are studied, wherein the linear anion isomer was found to dissociate to Cu– fragments. This dissociation process is interpreted with experimental data acquired from nanosecond photoelectron images and a femtosecond time resolved study.