Photodissociation of cadmium diiodide was studied. The nascent vibrational distribution
of CdI(X2Σ) on the photodissociation of CdI2 at 308 nm was determined by the
laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique. The temporal variation in the density of
CdI(X2Σ) radicals was monitored and it was shown that second-order recombination reactions
were important under our experimental conditions. Both the ground and the
highly excited states of cadmium atoms were generated on photodissociation of CdI2. The
multiphoton absorption process for the production of highly excited Cd atoms is discussed.