Dunning, F. B.2009-06-042009-06-041996Popple, Richard Allen. "Determination of transient negative ion lifetimes using Rydberg atoms." (1996) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/16993">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/16993</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/16993Potassium Rydberg atoms are used to investigate the lifetimes, on a picosecond timescale, of transient negative ions formed during dissociative electron attachment to CCl$\sb4$ and CF$\sb3$I. The transient negative ions are formed during Rydberg electron transfer reactions of the type$${\rm K}(n{\rm p})+AB\to{\rm K}\sp{+}+AB\sp{-*}\to{\rm K}\sp{+}+A\sp{-}+B$$For low values of principal quantum number $n\ (n\ \sbsp{\sim}{<}\ 20)$ the electrostatic interaction between the ${\rm K}\sp{+}-AB\sp{-*}$ and ${\rm K}\sp{+}+A\sp{-}$ ion pairs perturbs the ion trajectories. As a consequence, the final angular and velocity distributions of the ${\rm K}\sp{+}+A\sp{-}$ ions are dependent on the lifetime of the $AB\sp{-*}$ intermediate ion. The $AB\sp{-*}$ lifetime is determined by comparing product ion distributions, determined using position sensitive detection techniques, with the results of a Monte Carlo simulation that models the kinematics of the reaction. The data show that the lifetime of the excited $\rm CF\sb3\Gamma\sp{*}$ intermediate formed by Rydberg electron capture is short, $\sbsp{\sim}{<}2$ ps, and that the lifetime of the CCl$\sbsp{4}{-*}$ intermediate is $7.5\pm2.5$ ps.102 p.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Molecular physicsAtomic physicsPhysical chemistryThesisTHESIS PHYS. 1996 POPPLE