The time scale for solvent "caging" in the classic I 2 photodissociation reaction appears to be ^15 ps, on the basis of examination of new picosecond absorption spectra. The previously observed slow recovery ( > 100 ps) of molecular absorption is shown to be due to both ground-state vibrational relaxation and excited-state trapping in the recombined molecule. In addition, newly observed absorptions in the 350-400-nm region provide direct information on solvent-induced predissociation and excited-state vibrational relaxation.PACS numbers: 82.20. Rp, 61.20.Lc, 82.40Js, 82.50.Et A central problem in liquid-phase chemical dynamics is determination of the time scale of reaction for species trapped together in a solvent "cage." The iodine photodissociation reaction has been the primary model system for studying cage recombination, 1 yet the cage recombination time for this system is still in controversy. Some experiments have indicated an ~~100-ps recombination time, 2 ' 3 in disagreement with other experiments, 4 and in contrast with theoretical predictions 5 of 1-10-ps recombination times. This Letter reports results which strongly suggest that cage recombination occurs in ^15 ps. The results also demonstrate that both solvent-induced vibrational relaxation and excited electronic-state relaxation are important in the understanding of this reaction.The basic processes in iodine photodissociation which are needed to explain these results can be outlined with reference to the potential-energy diagram (Fig. 1). The reaction is initiated by a transition from the ground (X) state to a vibrational^ excited level of the bound B state. The solvent induces both vibrational relaxation within the B state, as well as crossing to several repulsive states (only one shown). After initial separation, the two atoms may escape through the solvent to dissociate permanently, or they may recombine on either the A, A', or X potential. Those recombining on the X potential must dissipate their excess vibrational energy to the solvent before they return to the initial state. Those recombining on the A or A' potentials must undergo a solvent-induced crossing to the X potential before they can vibrational^ relax to the initial state.Chuang, Hoffman, and Eisenthal 2 first probed the loss of absorption near the peak of the ground-state molecular absorption (530 nm) upon photodissociation. The bleach of the ground-state absorption showed a recovery time of -140 ps in CC1 4 , which was associated with atomic recombination. Nesbitt and Hynes, 6 however, presented a contrasting interpretation. The Franck-Condon principle predicts that the maximum absorption for a molecule in a given vibrational state will occur at an energy corresponding to a vertical transition from the classical turning points. For the X -* B transition, this implies that the absorption from a vibrationally relaxing X-state population will initially be in the near ir and will move to shorter wavelengths as the population relaxes (Fig. 1). Thus, only recombining X-state molecules...