Laser-induced-fluorescence studies of fragment ions: CH( ) and CD( )

The dynamics of ion molecular interactions within a mass selective rf quadrupole ion trap were studied for several ion molecule systems. Laser induced fluorescence is used as a probe of the internal energy distributions of molecular ions under collision free conditions and under controlled collision conditions. The ions were produced from methane through electron impact ionization/dissociation. The energy distributions reflect the dynamical partitioning of dissociation exothermicity, excepting short lived electronic states.