Reaction kinetics of O(1S) atom with atmospheric molecules

A new technique using laser flash photolysis in conjunction with laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate the reaction kinetics of metastable O(1S) atom with atmospheric molecules has been demonstrated. The O(1S) atoms are produced from 193 nm photolysis of O3 and detected using a technique of vacuum ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence (VUV-LIF) at 121.76 nm which is resonant to the O(3s1P1–2p1S) transition. The rate coefficients of the reactions of O(1S) with O2, CO2, H2O, O3 and HCl at room temperature have been determined.