Cross sections for ionization and excitation in the two-photon transitions of CO B-X(0,0)

High-resolution spectroscopy of CO B-X is being performed to measure cross sections for the processes of two-photon absorption and ionization that underlie two methods often used for sensitive detection of CO in flames, namely, two-photon LIF and 2+1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) via B(v=0). The use of multiphoton excitation is, for even LIF diagnostics, a practical necessity since the allowed one-photon transitions from CO X(v=0) begin at 152 nm. Two 230-nm photons, however, promotes transitions within B{l_arrow}X(0,0); detection in LIF then proceeds by collecting blue to green fluorescence in the Angstrom bands (B{r_arrow}A). In 2+1 REMPI, the ions (or electrons) are monitored as produced by a third ionizing photon at 230 nm that connects B(v=0) to the continuum. The signals acquired with either technique depend on the two-photon excitation rate and also on the ionization rate - a gain in REMPI signal from increased ionization is a loss to LIF in the manner of quenching. The authors have found no direct measurement of the ionization cross section of CO-B in the literature, in that all reported cross sections are extracted from measured trends of REMPI or fluorescence signals versus laser. A rate-equation analysis of a multi-level system was the usual model, with cross sections for intensity, two-photon absorption and ionization varied for best match with the measured trends. Further, only one such study, that of Looney et al., has offered a cross section for the photo-ionization of CO-B at 230 nm