Subpicosecond pulse radiolysis in liquid methyl-substituted benzene derivatives

The early processes of radiation chemistry in the picosecond time region in methyl-substituted benzene derivatives have been investigated using subpicosecond pulse radiolysis. In o-xylene, a fairly slow geminate ion recombination was observed within 50 ps after the electron beam irradiation; this is due to the smaller electron mobility. The kinetic traces were analyzed using the Smoluchowski equation with exponential and modified-Gaussian (YGP) functions as the distribution of thermalized electrons. Only exponential functions well reproduced the experimental data within 50 ps after the electron pulse.