Rotational distributions from photodissociation. II. Results for ICN+h _v→l+CN(X²Σ⁺)

The quantum theory of rotational, vibrational, translational and electronic energy distributions in photodissociation is applied to the à continuum photodissociation of ICN. Excited state potential energy surfaces are fitted to the available experimental data, and predictions are made of the product energy distributions. General results are discussed which are applicable to other photodissociations and predissociations. In particular, the calculated rotational energy distributions display a strong sensitivity to the details of the unbound potential surface. The results of the collinear approximation for vibrational distributions in photodissociation of linear molecules are shown to be considerably modified by including rotational degrees of freedom, especially at high photon energies.