Woodcock potential for alkali hydrides

Abstract

A generalized pair potential of Woodcock corresponding to a simple polarizable ion model, which includes both an inverse power function due to Born and Landé and an exponential function due to Born and Mayer, has been used to compute the rotational constants and cohesive energy of five alkali hydrides. The effect of exponent n of the Woodcock potential function upon the polarization coefficient a of the function, rotational constant α_e and cohesive energy, W, has been discussed. It is concluded that the Woodcock potential has limited validity for the alkali hydrides.