Vibrational photodetachment spectroscopy near the electron affinity of S2

We have conducted laser photodetachment spectroscopy near the detachment threshold of the electron affinity of S-2 in a 1.8-T field. The ions are prepared by dissociative electron attachment to carbonyl sulfide. The experiment is conducted in a Penning ion trap and with a narrow-band, tunable, Ti:sapphire laser. A hybrid model for photodetachment in an ion trap is fit to the data using the appropriate Franck-Condon factors. The observations reveal detachment from and to the first few vibrational levels of the anion and the neutral molecule, respectively. Evaporative cooling of the anion ensemble condenses the thermal distribution to the lowest initial vibrational states. The subsequent detachment spectroscopy yields results consistent with a vibrationally cooled anion population.