Chemical Laser Studies of Chemical Reaction Dynamics.

Chemical laser techniques have been used to analyze energy partitioning and chemical reaction dynamics in elementary bimolecular, unimolecular, and photochemical reaction systems. Several new chemical laser systems (e.g., cyanide radical molecular electronic lasers, a hydrogen cyanide polyatomic chemical laser, and a 'hot-atom' initiated bimolecular reaction laser) were discovered. A general method for the quantitative determination of product vibrational state distributions was developed and applied to many chemical laser systems. Important rate processes such as specific energy partitioning leading to population inversions plus energy redistribution steps that modify nascent population inversions were determined for operating chemical lasers. Support experiments in areas of vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy using a synchrotron radiation source and of tunable intracavity cw dye laser spectroscopy were also carried out. Certain theoretical approaches toward reaction dynamics were also pursued. A dynamical model for energy partitioning into specific product vibrational states was devised and applied to reaction and relaxation systems. Information theoretic methods were used to analyze patterns of energy partitioning and to predict electronic branching ratios.