Investigations of the breakup dynamics of small molecular ions recombining with electrons

Abstract: Dissociative recombination is the process in which a molecular ion recombines with an electron and then fragments into neutral products. This process has been studied in many experiments over the years at the ion storage ring CRYRING at the Manne Siegbahn Laboratory, Stockholm University. In this thesis the experimental methods and data analysis procedures used to investigate dissociative recombination are presented together with the results for several diatomic and triatomic ions. Cross sections and branching fractions of the different breakup channels have been determined. An imaging system was introduced to study the fragmentation channels in detail. The main focus is on the dynamics of the three-body breakup of triatomic dihydride ions. This work includes the results from the dissociative recombination of NO+, SH2+, SD2+, PD2+, NH2+, CH2+, H2O+ and H3+.