Ion-induced dissociation dynamics of acetylene

We report on the results of dissociation dynamics of multiple charged acetylene molecules formed in collision with 1.2 MeV Ar⁸⁺ projectiles. Using the coincidence map, we can separate out the different dissociation pathways between carbon and hydrogen ionic fragments as well as complete two-body breakup events. From the measured slopes of the coincidence islands for carbon atomic fragments and theoretical values determined from the charge and momentum distribution of the correlated particles, we observe a diatomlike behavior of the C–C charged complex during dissociation of multiply charged C₂H₂. We conclude that this behavior in breakup dynamics is a signature of sequentiality in dissociation of this multiply charged molecular species. The shape and orientation of the islands give further information about the momentum balance in the fragmentation process of two- or many-body dissociation pathways. Kinetic energy release of different breakup channels are reported here and compared with values calculated from the pure Coulomb explosion model.