Selective fragmentation of valence and core electron excited CD and SF molecules

Electron–ion coincidence measurements with energy-resolved electrons are a powerful tool in studies of molecular fragmentation processes, since fragmentation from a specific doorway state can be monitored while the remaining reactions are discriminated. Presently, we have applied this technique in measurements of coincidence spectra of the CD4 and SF6 molecules after valence and core electron excitation. The newly constructed energy-resolved electron–ion coincidence station developed for this project has been used. Our results on CD4 are the first demonstration of a correlation between vibrations and molecular dissociation observed in this molecule. The SF6 spectra reveal strong selectivity in dissociation following distinct electronic states of the molecule. This selectivity reflects the bonding properties of the potential surfaces involved in the studied processes. The obtained results exemplify the potential of the new multicoincidence station used in this work.