Issue 26, 2019

How reactant polarization can be used to change the effect of interference on reactive collisions

Abstract

It is common knowledge that integral and differential cross sections (DCSs) are strongly dependent on the spatial distribution of the molecular axis of the reactants. Hence, by controlling the axis distribution, it is possible to either promote or hinder the yield of products into specific final states or scattering angles. This idea has been successfully implemented in experiments by polarizing the internuclear axis before the reaction takes place, either by manipulating the rotational angular distribution or by the Stark effect in the presence of an orienting field. When there is a dominant reaction mechanism, characterized by a set of impact parameters and angles of attack, it is expected that a preparation that helps the system to reach the transition state associated with that mechanism will promote the reaction, whilst a different preparation would generally impair the reaction. However, when two or more competing mechanisms via interference contribute to the reaction into specific scattering angles and final states, it is not evident which would be the effect of changing the axis preparation. To address this problem, throughout this article we have simulated the effect that different experimental preparations have on the DCSs for the H + D2 reaction at relatively high energies, for which it has been shown that several competing mechanisms give rise to interference that shapes the DCS. To this aim, we have extended the formulation of the polarization dependent DCS to calculate polarization dependent generalized deflection functions of ranks greater than zero. Our results show that interference is very sensitive to changes in the internuclear axis preparation, and that the shape of the DCS can be controlled exquisitely.

Graphical abstract: How reactant polarization can be used to change the effect of interference on reactive collisions

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Nov 2018
Accepted
20 Dec 2018
First published
20 Dec 2018

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019,21, 14012-14022

How reactant polarization can be used to change the effect of interference on reactive collisions

P. G. Jambrina, M. Menéndez, A. Zanchet, E. García and F. J. Aoiz, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 14012 DOI: 10.1039/C8CP06892E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements