Comment on "Experimental test of self-shielding in vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation of CO".
Chakraborty et al. (Reports, 5 September 2008, p. 1328) demonstrated very large, wavelength-dependent mass-independent isotopic effects during carbon monoxide (CO) photodissociation and argued that self-shielding in CO was not responsible. We suggest that variations in band oscillator strengths and linewidths among CO isotopologs are responsible for most of the wavelength dependence observed and that the reported experiments confirm the importance of self-shielding during CO photodissociation.
Lyons
James R
JR
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. jimlyons@ucla.edu
Lewis
Roy S
RS
Clayton
Robert N
RN