The influence of cluster formation on the photodissociation of sulfur dioxide: Excitation to the E state

The dissociation dynamics of sulfur dioxide and sulfur dioxide clusters in real time was investigated using pump-probe technique. The dissociation was initiated by a multiphoton scheme that populates the E state. It was found that as the cluster size of the sulfur dioxide increases, a sequential increase in the lifetime associated with the E state could be observed, which increases from 230 to 435 fs for the monomer and tetramer. The branching ratio of the nondissociative process relative the initial population increases at the onset of cluster formation.