Rydberg Detection of Spin‐Polarized Hydrogen Atoms in Chemical Reactions

An approach to detect the velocity dependence of spin‐polarized H atoms has recently been developed. The technique, termed spin‐polarized hydrogen Rydberg time‐of‐flight ( SPH‐RTOF ), permits direct measurement of spin‐polarized H atoms born from a photodissociation or scattering event. The resulting H‐atom spin polarization can be fully described by three anisotropy parameters, all of which are captured in SPH‐RTOF . This review describes the approach in detail, provides a theoretical description that allows the experimentally obtained values to relate to the underlying dissociation dynamics of a molecule, and summarizes the first applications of SPH‐RTOF to the UV photodissociation of H(D)Br.