VACUUM ULTRAVIOLET FLUORESCENCE DETECTION OF TWO-PHOTON EXCITATION SPECTRA OF $I_{2}$ RYDBERG STATES

1. R. J. Donovan, R. V. Flood, K. P. Lawley, A. J. Yencha, and T. Ridley, Phys. 164, 439 (1992).Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State UniversityVacuum ultraviolet fluorescence of iodine has been used to detect excitations through the $73384 cm^{-1}$ to $60150 cm^{-1}$ energy range. Eleven vibrational progressions corresponding to gerade Rydberg states of molecular lodine are identified. Twenty-two atomic LIF transitions following photodissociation are also identified. Combining and comparing these results with multiphoton ionization $data^{1}$ provides a better characterization of the gerade Rydberg sates and new insight into the predissocaition and photodissociation processes of the iodine molecule