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Title: The hydrogen atom-deuterium molecule reaction: Experimental determination of product quantum state distributions

Miscellaneous ·
OSTI ID:5124718

The H + H{sub 2} atom exchange reaction (and its isotopic analogs) is the simplest neutral bimolecular chemical reaction because of the small number of electrons in the system and the lightness of the nuclei. The H{sub 3} potential energy surface (PES) is the most accurately known reactive surface (LSTH surface); there have been both quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) and quantal calculations performed on it. This is one of the few systems for which theory is ahead of experiment, and many theoretical predictions await experimental comparison. The H + D{sub 2} {yields} HD + D reaction is studied using thermal D{sub 2}({approximately}298 K) and translationally hot hydrogen atoms. Photolysis of HI at 266 nm generates H atoms with center-of-mass collision energies of 1.3 and 0.55 eV, both of which are above the classical reaction barrier of 0.42 eV. The rovibrational population distribution of the molecular product is measured by (2+1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). A major effort has been directed toward calibrating the (2+1) REMPI detection procedure, to determine quantitatively the relationship between ion signals and relative quantum state populations for HD. An effusive, high-temperature nozzle has been constructed to populate thermally the high rovibrational levels observed in the reaction. The results are compared to theoretical calculations of the E,F {sup 1}{Sigma}{sub g}{sup +} - X {sup 1}{Sigma}{sub g}{sup +} two-photon transition moments. For the H + D{sub 2} reaction, the populations of all energetically accessible HD product levels are measured. Specifically, the following levels are observed: HD(v = 0, J = 0-15), HD(v = 1, J = 0-12), and HD(v = 2, J = 0-8). Of the available energy, 73% is partitioned into product translation, 18% into HD rotation, and 9% into HD vibration.

Research Organization:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
OSTI ID:
5124718
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English