Structure and stability of Ne+He(n): experiment and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo theory with "on the fly" electronic structure

New data are reported for the mass-spectrometry fragmentation patterns of helium clusters, either pure or containing a Ne or an Ar atom. The patterns for He(n)+ and Ar+He(n) show clear evidence of structure, while those of Ne+He(n) do not. To better understand the surprising result for the Ne+He(n) fragments, diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) calculations of the energies and structural properties of these ions were performed using a diatomics-in-molecule (DIM) parametrization of the potential energy. Using DIM for electronic energy evaluation allows us to sample 10(9) configurations even for a cluster as large as Ne+He14. The results of the DMC calculation are very surprising. For n > 7, the DMC random walkers rarely venture within 100 cm(-1) of the minimum potential energy. Analysis of the resulting particle density distributions shows that the zero-point energy does more than spread the wave function around the potential-energy minima, resulting in very diffuse wave functions. For some of the clusters the quantum effects nearly exclude the region of the potential minimum from the overall wave function. An important result of this effect is that the incremental bonding energy of the nth helium atom varies quite smoothly with n, for n > 5. This eliminates the expected shell structure and explains the lack of magic-number-type features in the data.     

Theoretical Study of Rg·NO (Rg=He,Ne, Ar and Kr) Complexes

Rg·NO (Rg=He, Ne, Ar and Kr) complexes were studied using ab initio calculations. The neutral Rg·NO complex geometry and vibrational frequencies were calculated with the cc-pVDZ basis set at the CCSD(T) level of theory. The calculations show that the geometry of the Rg·NO complexes is a skewed T-shape with the Rg atom on the oxygen side of the NO molecule, and that the RgNO bond angle increases with mass. The dissociation energies (DE) and ionization energies (IE) of the neutral Rg·NO complexes, and the dissociation energies of Rg·NO+ ionic complexes were calculated using Gaussian-2 (G2) methods and a high accuracy energy model. The ionization energies of the neutral Rg·NO complexes range from 9.265 eV for He·NO to 9.132 eV for Kr·NO and the dissociation energies of Rg·NO+ range from 0.017 eV for He·NO+ to 0.156 eV for Kr·NO+, in line with the expectation based on the increasing polarizability of the Rg atom.     

Photoionization of helium nanodroplets doped with rare gas atoms

Photoionization of He droplets doped with rare gas atoms (Rg=Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe) was studied by time-of-flight mass spectrometry, utilizing synchrotron radiation from the Advanced Light Source from 10 to 30 eV. High resolution mass spectra were obtained at selected photon energies, and photoion yield curves were measured for several ion masses (or ranges of ion masses) over a wide range of photon energies. Only indirect ionization of the dopant rare gas atoms was observed, either by excitation or charge transfer from the surrounding He atoms. Significant dopant ionization from excitation transfer was seen at 21.6 eV, the maximum of He 2p 1P absorption band for He droplets, and from charge transfer above 23 eV, the threshold for ionization of pure He droplets. No Ne+ or Ar+ signal from droplet photoionization was observed, but peaks from HenNe+ and HenAr+ were seen that clearly originated from droplets. For droplets doped with Rg=Kr or Xe, both Rg+ and HenRg+ ions were observed. For all rare gases, Rg2+ and HenRgm+ (n,m> or =1) were produced by droplet photoionization. Mechanisms of dopant ionization and subsequent dynamics are discussed.     

Fragmentation of ionized doped helium nanodroplets: theoretical evidence for a dopant ejection mechanism

We report a theoretical study of the effect induced by a helium nanodroplet environment on the fragmentation dynamics of a dopant. The dopant is an ionized neon cluster Ne(n) (+) (n=4-6) surrounded by a helium nanodroplet composed of 100 atoms. A newly designed mixed quantum/classical approach is used to take into account both the large helium cluster zero-point energy due to the light mass of the helium atoms and all the nonadiabatic couplings between the Ne(n) (+) potential-energy surfaces. The results reveal that the intermediate ionic dopant can be ejected from the droplet, possibly with some helium atoms still attached, thereby reducing the cooling power of the droplet. Energy relaxation by helium atom evaporation and dissociation, the other mechanism which has been used in most interpretations of doped helium cluster dynamics, also exhibits new features. The kinetic energy distribution of the neutral monomer fragments can be fitted to the sum of two Boltzmann distributions, one with a low kinetic energy and the other with a higher kinetic energy. This indicates that cooling by helium atom evaporation is more efficient than was believed so far, as suggested by recent experiments. The results also reveal the predominance of Ne(2) (+) and He(q)Ne(2) (+) fragments and the absence of bare Ne(+) fragments, in agreement with available experimental data (obtained for larger helium nanodroplets). Moreover, the abundance in fragments with a trimeric neon core is found to increase with the increase in dopant size. Most of the fragmentation is achieved within 10 ps and the only subsequent dynamical process is the relaxation of hot intermediate He(q)Ne(2) (+) species to Ne(2) (+) by helium atom evaporation. The dependence of the ionic fragment distribution on the parent ion electronic state reached by ionization is also investigated. It reveals that He(q)Ne(+) fragments are produced only from the highest electronic state, whereas He(q)Ne(2) (+) fragments originate from all the electronic states. Surprisingly, the highest electronic states also lead to fragments that still contain the original ionic dopant species. A mechanism is conjectured to explain this fragmentation inhibition.     

Quantum mechanical scattering calculations on a spline-fitted ab initio surface: the He + H+2 (ν = 0, 1, 2) → HeH+ + H reaction

All-channel time-dependent quantum mechanical reaction probabilities are reported for the collinear He + H⁺₂(ν = 0, 1, 2) → HeH⁺ + H reaction at a total energy of 1.2 eV on previously reported diatomics-in-molecule (DIM) and spline fitted ab initio (SAI) surfaces. These results are in agreement with the previous quasiclassical trajectory results in that there is vibrational enhancement of the reaction probability on the SAI surface but not on the DIM surface. This agreement lends support to our previously drawn conclusion that small differences in the potential-energy surface can lead to substantially different dynamic results.     

Ground and excited state dissociation dynamics of ionized 1,1-difluoroethene

The kinetic energy release distributions (KERDs) for the fluorine atom loss from the 1,1-difluoroethene cation have been recorded with two spectrometers in two different energy ranges. A first experiment uses dissociative photoionization with the He(I) and Ne(I) resonance lines, providing the ions with a broad internal energy range, up to 7 eV above the dissociation threshold. The second experiment samples the metastable range, and the average ion internal energy is limited to about 0.2 eV above the threshold. In both energy domains, KERDs are found to be bimodal. Each component has been analyzed by the maximum entropy method. The narrow, low kinetic energy components display for both experiments the characteristics of a statistical, simple bond cleavage reaction: constraint equal to the square root of the fragment kinetic energy and ergodicity index higher than 90%. Furthermore, this component is satisfactorily accounted for in the metastable time scale by the orbiting transition state theory. Potential energy surfaces corresponding to the five lowest electronic states of the dissociating 1,1-C2H2F2+ ion have been investigated by ab initio calculations at various levels. The equilibrium geometry of these states, their dissociation energies, and their vibrational wavenumbers have been calculated, and a few conical intersections between these surfaces have been identified. It comes out that the ionic ground state X2B1 is adiabatically correlated with the lowest dissociation asymptote. Its potential energy curve increases in a monotonic way along the reaction coordinate, giving rise to the narrow KERD component. Two states embedded in the third photoelectron band (B2A1 at 15.95 eV and C2B2 at 16.17 eV) also correlate with the lowest asymptote at 14.24 eV. We suggest that their repulsive behavior along the reaction coordinate be responsible for the KERD high kinetic energy contribution.     

Study of ab initio molecular data for inelastic and reactive collisions involving the H3+ quasimolecule

The lowest two ab initio potential energy surfaces (PES), and the corresponding nonadiabatic couplings between them, have been obtained for the H3+ system; the molecular data are compared to those calculated with the diatomic in molecules (DIM) method. The form of the couplings is discussed in terms of the topology of the molecular structure of the triatomic. The method of Baer is employed to generate "diabatic" states and the residual nonadiabatic couplings are calculated. The ab initio results for these are markedly different from the corresponding DIM data, and show the need to consider the third PES.     

Theoretical study of Rb2 in He(N): potential energy surface and Monte Carlo simulations

An analytical potential energy surface for a rigid Rb? in the 3Σ(u)? state interacting with one helium atom based on accurate ab initio computations is proposed. This 2-dimensional potential is used, together with the pair approximation approach, to investigate Rb? attached to small helium clusters He(N) with N = 1-6, 12, and 20 by means of quantum Monte Carlo studies. The limit of large clusters is approximated by a flat helium surface. The relative orientation of the dialkali axis and the helium surface is found to be parallel. Dynamical investigations of the pendular and of the in-plane rotation of the rigid Rb? molecule on the surface are presented.     

Mo2分子的ab initio研究

We have investigated the electronic structure and potential energy curve of molecule Mo_2 using ECP ab initio method at SCF and CI levels. Relativistic effective core potential have been used for molybdenum. It is found that the ground state of Mo_2 is ~1Σ_g~+: 1σ_g~2 1π_u~4 1δ_g~4 2σ_g~2. It is predicted that the bond length are 1.75 and 2.01 at SCF and SCF+CI, respectively, and dissociation energy are 10.3 eV and 5.2 eV. As bond length increase, the correlation energy increase rapidly, and got a reasonable dissociation procedure at SCF+Cl level.     

Microsolvation of LiH+ in helium clusters: many-body effects and additivity models for the interaction forces

The ab initio calculation of the interaction forces between the LiH+ molecular ion, at its equilibrium geometry, and several He atoms is carried out in order to isolate and assess the importance of many-body contributions in the search for realistic energy and geometry data. The full potential energy surface (PES) with a single helium partner is obtained first by using an aug-cc-pVQZ basis set for He and higher quality ones for Li and H. The calculations were performed at the CAS-SCF plus MRCI level for the lowest potential energy surface over a total of 480 grid points of the two intermolecular Jacobi coordinates, whereas the excited state surface has also been examined in order to exclude the presence of any significant nonadiabatic interaction between the two PESs. A numerical fit of the lower surface is presented and the general physical changes of the ionic interaction when going from the lower to the upper of the two potentials are described and discussed. The fairly limited importance of many-body effects for such systems is seen from further ab initio calculations including several He atoms: our results suggest that, at least in the present case, no strong charge migration occurs after He attachment, and therefore, one could realistically model larger clusters by implementing a sum-of-potentials approach via the presently computed PES.     

Interaction potentials for Br(-)-Rg (Rg=He-Rn): spectroscopy and transport coefficients

High-level ab initio CCSD(T) calculations are performed in order to obtain accurate interaction potentials for the Br(-) anion interacting with each rare gas (Rg) atom. For the Rg atoms from He to Ar, two approaches are taken. The first one implements a relativistic core potential and an aug-cc-pVQZ basis set for bromine, an aug-cc-pV5Z basis set for Rg, and a set of bond functions placed at the midpoint of the Rg-Br distance. The second one uses the all-electron approximation with aug-cc-pV5Z bases further augmented by an extra diffuse function in each shell. Comparison reveals close similarity between both sets of results, so for Rg atoms from Kr to Rn only the second approach is exploited. Calculated potentials are assessed against the previous empirical, semiempirical, and ab initio potentials, and against available beam scattering data, zero electron kinetic energy spectroscopic data, and various sets of the measured ion mobilities and diffusion coefficients. This multiproperty analysis leads to the conclusion that the present potentials are consistently good for the whole series of Br(-)-Rg pairs over the whole range of internuclear distances covered.     

Evidence for emergent chemical bonding in Au+-Rg complexes (Rg = Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe)

Evidence is presented that there is a clear covalent component in the bonding of Au+ to Kr and Au+ to Xe, with some evidence that there may be such bonding between Au+ and Ar; for Au+ and Ne, there is no such evidence, and the bonding seems to be entirely physical. A model potential analysis shows that when all attractive inductive and dispersive terms out to R-8 are properly included in the Au+-Ne case, with an Ae(-bR) Born-Mayer repulsive term, essentially all the bonding in Au+-Ne can be rationalized by physical attraction alone. This is consistent with a natural bond order (NBO) analysis of the Au+-Ne ab initio wavefunctions, which shows the charge on Au+ to be very close to 1.0. In contrast, similar model potential and NBO analyses show quite clearly that physical interactions alone cannot account for the large bond energy values for the Au+-Kr and Au+-Xe complexes and are consistent with covalent contributions to the Au+-Kr and Au+-Xe interactions. Au+-Ar is seen to lie on the borderline between these two limits. In performing the model potential analyses, high-level ab initio calculations are employed [CCSD(T) energies, extrapolated to the complete basis set limit], to obtain reliable values of Re, De and omegae as input. A comparison of the gold-Xe bond distances in several solid-state Au(I, II and III) oxidation-state complex ions, containing "ligand" Xe atoms, prepared by Seppelt and co-workers, with that of the "free" Au+-Xe gas-phase ion is made, and a discussion of the trends is presented.     

Low energy structures of gold nanoclusters in the size range 3–38 atoms

Using a combination of first principles calculations and empirical potentials we have undertaken a systematic study of the low energy structures of gold nanoclusters containing from 3 to 38 atoms. A Lennard-Jones and many-body potential have been used in the empirical calculations, while the first principles calculations employ an atomic orbital, density functional technique. For the smaller clusters (n=3–5) the potential energy surface has been mapped at the ab initio level and for larger clusters an empirical potential was first used to identify low energy candidates which were then optimised with full ab initio calculations. At the DFT-LDA level, planar structures persist up to six atoms and are considerably more stable than the cage structures by more than 0.1 eV/atom. The difference in ab initio energy between the most stable planar and cage structures for seven atoms is only 0.04 eV/atom. For larger clusters there are generally a number of minima in the potential energy surface lying very close in energy. Furthermore our calculations do not predict ordered structures for the magic numbers n=13 and 38. They do predict the ordered tetrahedral structure for n=20. The results of the calculations show that gold nanoclusters in this size range are mainly disordered and will likely exist in a range of structures at room temperature.     

Low energy collisions of CN(X2Σ+) with He in magnetic fields

A theoretical investigation of the He-CN((2)Σ(+)) complex is presented. We perform ab initio calculations of the interaction potential energy surface and carry out accurate calculations of bound energy levels of the complex including the molecular fine structure. We find the potential has a shallow minimum and supports seven and nine bound levels in complex with (3)He and (4)He, respectively. Based on the potential the quantum scattering calculation is then implemented for elastic and inelastic cross sections of the magnetically trappable low-field-seeking state of CN((2)Σ(+)) in collision with (3)He atom. The cold collision properties and the influence of the external magnetic field as well as the effect of the uncertainty of interaction potential on the collisionally induced Zeeman relaxation are explored and discussed in detail. The ratios of elastic to inelastic cross sections are large over a wide range of collision energy, magnetic field, and scaling factor of the potential, suggesting helium buffer gas loading and cooling of CN in a magnetic trap is a good prospect.     

Vibrational and rotational cooling of NO+ in collisions with He

A quantum mechanical investigation of the vibrational and rotational deactivation of NO(+) in collisions with He atoms in the cold and ultracold regime is presented. Ab initio potential energy calculations are carried out at BCCD(T) level and a new global 3D potential energy surface (PES) is obtained by fitting ab initio points within the reproducing kernel Hilbert space method. As a first test of this PES the bound state energies of the (3)He-NO(+) and (4)He-NO(+) complexes are calculated and compared to previous rigid rotor calculations. The efficiency of the vibrational and the rotational cooling of this molecular ion using a buffer gas of helium is then investigated by performing close coupling scattering calculations for collision energy ranging from 10(-6) to 2000 cm(-1). The calculations are performed for the two isotopes (3)He and (4)He and the results are compared to the available experimental data.     

Diatomics-in-molecules calculation of the potential energy surfaces relevant to penning ionization in the He(2 3S)H2 system

Potential energy surfaces and the autoionization width for the Penning ionization transition He(2 ³S) + H₂ → He + H⁺₂ + e^? have been calculated using the DIM method. The surfaces compare favourably with the existing ab initio calculations, and the approximation to the autoioinization width appear to be reasonable.     

Ab initio spin-orbit configuration interaction calculations for high-lying states of the HeNe quasimolecule

Multireference configuration interaction (MRD-CI) calculations are reported for a large series of electronic states of the HeNe quasimolecule up to 170000 cm(-1) excitation energy, including those that dissociate to the 3S1 and 2 1S0 excited states of the He atom. Spin-orbit coupling is included through the use of relativistic effective core potentials (RECPs). Good agreement is obtained with experimental spectroscopic data for the respective atomic levels, although there is a tendency to systematically underestimate the energies of the Ne atom by 1000-1500 cm(-1) because of differences in the correlation effects associated with its ground and Rydberg excited states. Potential curves are calculated for each of these states, and a number of relatively deep minima are found. The CI Omega-state wave functions are sufficiently diabatic until r = 4-5 a0 to allow for a clear identification of the He 1s-2s excited states. Electric dipole transition moments are computed between these states and the HeNe X 0+ ground state up to r = 4.0 a0, and it is found that the 2 (1)S0 - X maximum value is over an order of magnitude larger than that for the corresponding (3)S1 - X excitation process.     

A DIM model for homogeneous noble gas ionic clusters

The method of diatomics-in-molecules (DIM) is applied to the calculation of the energy of the homogeneous noble-gas ionic clusters Ar _n ⁺ and Xe _n ⁺ forn=3, 4, ..., 22. The trimers are stable symmetric linear molecules exhibiting chemical binding, a result in agreement both with ab initio calculations and with previous DIM work. The clusters up ton=13 are best described as a trimer ion surrounded by neutrals, whereby the charge distribution changes slightly with increasingn. Both noble gases exhibit a special stability associated with the completion of the first shell of neutral atoms atn=13. Asn increases from 13 to 22, there is a greater delocalization of the positive charge, the central ion tending to become a linear tetramer, symmetric for Xe and unsymmetric for Ar. Energies of the excited electronic states are reported and the possibility of developing simpler DIM models for the clusters and for mixed noble gases is discussed.     

Theoretical studies on the structure of hydration in perfluorinated lithium salt membranes

Using an ab initio molecular orbital (MO) method, the normal frequencies are calculated for perfluorinated lithium sulfonate and carboxylate membranes by construction of a cluster model, which severs the ion core from the polymer chain, and then analysis of the experimentally observed infrared (IR) spectra is carried out. During the process of dehydration, small sharp peaks at about 3650 and 3700 cm(-1) appeared on the shoulder of the broad band at about 3500 cm(-1). These sharp peaks are identified as the symmetric and asymmetric stretching modes of the free water molecule. Furthermore, by estimation of the evaporation ratio based on thermochemical analysis, it can be assumed that the first hydration shells are naked in some part of the ion core, thereby allowing evaporation to take place within the external hydration shell during the dehydration process.