Photodissociation of the hydroxyl radical (OH) at 157 nm

The photodissociation of the OH radical was studied at 157 nm via the detection of the product H atoms with the resonance fluorescence technique. OH radicals were produced in a fast flow cell from the reaction between H and NO2 and subsequently photodissociated by an excimer laser operating on the F2 emission. The quantum yield for photodissociation of OH was measured to be 1.10±0.28. The photodissociation cross section was calculated to be 6.6×10−18 cm2 (±25%) which is in good agreement with the work of Nee and Lee (Ref. 8).