Wavepacket dynamics of the excited (S1) state of 2,5-difluoroaniline by accidental resonance with the Rydberg states.

Coherent nuclear wavepacket behavior obtained by time-resolved spectroscopy is a good choice to capture the real-time evolution of molecular configuration. Using femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging, we investigate the real-time evolution of the vibrational wavepacket of 2,5-difluoroaniline following the coherent excitation of an out-of-plane vibrational mode in the S₁ state at 289.8 nm. Probed by an accidental resonance with the Rydberg states, the periodic oscillations with the frequency of 99 cm⁻¹ are observed from the photoelectron kinetic energy (PKE) distributions, corresponding to the energy difference between the out-of-plane mode X¹₀ of C–F bond and the band origin. Moreover, phase reversal of π rad between 0.66–0.75 and 1.00–1.08 eV is also observed in the PKE region. Combined with the scan of the potential energy surface in the ground cationic D₀ state, the observed two ionization channels corresponding to different phases are attributed to the periodic geometry changes between the planar and the non-planar structures when the coherent wavepacket evolves from the initial vertical Franck–Condon region toward the global minimum of the S₁ potential energy surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]