Neutral dissociation of superexcited states in nitric oxide

Near-infrared dispersed fluorescence measurements of 13 different atomic multiplets of neutral atomic fragments from photon induced neutral dissociation processes in NO are reported. For excitation of the molecules narrow band synchrotron photons of energy 17.2-25.8 eV were used. Neither Rydberg series nor other molecular states in NO known so far can account for the collected data. From ab initio calculations we try to obtain more information regarding the NO precursor states, and the mechanism behind the observed neutral dissociation.