Laser-induced fluorescence determination of internal-state distribution of OH produced by H+NO2 in crossed molecular beams

The relative populations of rotational states in the v=0 and v=1 vibrational states of OH produced in the reaction of H+NO2→OH+NO in crossed molecular beams were measured by laser-induced fluorescence. The excited vibrational state v=1 was found to be produced at 1.3±0.3 times the rate of v=0. High degrees of rotational excitation were also observed. The rotational-state distributions were analyzed in information theoretic terms. A linear surprisal was found, which yielded a rotational surprisal parameter λROT=−2.69±0.57 for v=0.