Communication: First observation of ground state I(2P(3/2)) atoms from the CH3I photodissociation in the B-band.

The photodissociation of CH(3)I in the second absorption band (the B-band) has been studied at the wavelength 199.11 nm, coincident with the 3(0)(1) (3)R(1)(E)←X((1)A(1)) CH(3)I vibronic transition, using a combination of slice imaging and resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization detection of the CH(3) fragment. The kinetic energy and angular distributions of the recoiling CH(3) fragment confirm a major predissociation dynamics channel as a result of the interaction between the bound (3)R(1) Rydberg state and the repulsive (3)A(1)(E) state--ascribed to the A-band--yielding CH(3) fragments in correlation with spin-orbit excited I*((2)P(1/2)) atoms. In addition, first evidence of a non-negligible population of ground state I((2)P(3/2)) atoms in the CH(3) fragment slice images, suggests a secondary predissociation mechanism via interaction between the (3)R(1) Rydberg state and the repulsive A-band (1)Q(1) state.