In molecular photoionization, the molecular frame photoelectron angular distribution (MFPAD) and the vibrational branching ratio (VBR) both contain information about the initial state and final ion state of the system in addition to information on the scattering dynamics of the photoelectron. In particular, VBRs give information about the sensitivity to molecular geometry and MFPADs give information about the intensity and relative phases of the different partial waves in the photoelectron continuum. Both VBRs and MFPADs are particularly sensitive probes of the photoionization process in the regions of resonant processes. Comparisons between experiment and theory will be considered from a number of recent studies.
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University