Iron monoxide photodissociation

The photodissociation of (56)FeO was studied by means of the velocity map imaging technique. A molecular beam of iron atoms and iron monoxide molecules was created using an electrical discharge with an iron electrode in a supersonic expansion of molecular oxygen. The ground state iron atom Fe((5)D(4)) and FeO concentrations in the molecular beam have been estimated. The dissociation energy of the FeO X (5)Delta ground electronic state was found to be D(0) (0)(FeO)=4.18+/-0.01 eV. The effective absorption cross section of FeO at 252.39 nm (vac), leading to the Fe((5)D(4))+O((3)P) dissociation channel, is approximately 1.2 x 10(-18) cm(2). A (1+1) resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization spectrum of (56)FeO in the region 39 550-39 580 cm(-1) with rotational structure has been observed, but not assigned. Angular distributions of Fe((5)D(4)) and Fe((5)D(3)) products for the channel FeO-->Fe((5)D(4,3))+O((3)P) have been measured at several points in the 210-260 nm laser light wavelength region. The anisotropy parameter varies strongly with wavelength for both channels.