Noble gas-actinide complexes of the CUO molecule with multiple Ar,Kr, and Xe atoms in noble-gas matrices

Laser-ablated U atoms react with CO in excess argon to produce CUO, which is trapped in a triplet state in solid argon at 7 K, based on agreement between observed and relativistic density functional theory (DFT) calculated isotopic frequencies ((12)C(16)O, (13)C(16)O, (12)C(18)O). This observation contrasts a recent neon matrix investigation, which trapped CUO in a linear singlet state calculated to be about 1 kcal/mol lower in energy. Experiments with krypton and xenon give results analogous to those with argon. Similar work with dilute Kr and Xe in argon finds small frequency shifts in new four-band progressions for CUO in the same triplet states trapped in solid argon and provides evidence for four distinct CUO(Ar)(4-n)(Ng)(n) (Ng = Kr, Xe, n = 1, 2, 3, 4) complexes for each Ng. DFT calculations show that successively higher Ng complexes are responsible for the observed frequency progressions. This work provides the first evidence for noble gas-actinide complexes, and the first example of neutral complexes with four noble gas atoms bonded to one metal center.     

Chemistry in mixtures of Kr with Ar and He illuminated with Kr resonance radiation

The formation and destruction of excited rare-gas dimers have been studied using resonance optical excitation of high-pressure gas mixtures containing Kr. From an analysis of the resulting emission, 19 reaction rate coefficients have been inferred. It is concluded that atom–atom interchange processes play a major role in rare-gas eximer formation, and that stepwise relaxation down the eximer vibrational ladder is less important than multistep relaxation due to atom–atom exchange in the excited eximer.     

The ArKr pair potential function

Recently Buck et al. derived a potential function for ArKr from molecular beam measurements. The reliability of this potential is tested with viscosity and diffusion coefficients.     

Modelling light diatomics trapped in rare gas matrices: H2, HD and D2 in Ar,Kr and Xe

The different models allowing the calculations of the rovibrational frequency shifts with respect to the free molecule of a molecular impurity embedded in a rare gas crystal are reviewed. It is shown that models which account for the translational motion of the impurity yield reliable results, the effects of the rare-gas translation seem to be less important. The different models currently used are described in detail and the computational procedures are discussed. Finally, it is shown that for heteronuclear diatomics, the translation-rotation coupling could play an important role.     

Phase behavior of Ar and Kr films on carbon nanotubes

Recent experiments (Wang et al., 2010) have found evidence of phase transitions of gases adsorbed on a single carbon nanotube. In order to understand the observations, we have carried out classical grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of this system, for the cases of Ar and Kr on zigzag and armchair nanotubes with radius R > 0.7 nm. The calculated behavior resembles the experimental results in the case of Ar. However, the prominent, ordered phase found for Kr in both simulations and (classical) energy minimization calculations differs from that deduced from the experimental data. A tentative explanation of the apparent discrepancy is that the experiments involve a nanotube of rather large radius (>1.5 nm).     

Electron-ion-coincidence spectra of K-shell excited Ne, Ar, and Kr clusters

Electron-ion-coincidence spectra were recorded for K-shell excited krypton, argon, and neon clusters covering the size range from 1 atom to about 3000 atoms by utilizing hard x-ray undulator beamlines. Multiply charged ions Rz+(z>or=2) and singly charged ions Rn+(n>or=1) are observed as cluster fragments, and their relative abundance exhibits a characteristic dependence on the average cluster size N. It is expected from these results that the charges generated on the cluster surface are strongly localized while those in the cluster core are more delocalized. The estimated charge separation distance increases with N, and it is longer for lighter elements.     

Appearance of interatomic Coulombic decay in Ar, Kr, and Xe homonuclear dimers

Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) is observed in the rare gas homonuclear dimers Ar2, Kr2, and Xe2 with photoion spectroscopy techniques. Inner valence ionization of the outer ns shell of these systems is known to create a metastable state that dissociates to form a ground state ion and a neutral excited fragment. Inner valence ionization to form ns satellite states leads to similar dissociations, but the neutral fragment gets all the more excited as the internal energy of the ns satellite state increases. When enough excitation energy is transferred to reach the ionization potential, ICD occurs. ICD threshold is observed to coincide with the position of the A+A+ ground state in the Franck-Condon region.     

Interaction of SiCl2 with CO2 in Ar matrices

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Electronic to vibrational energy transfer and relaxation in matrices. II. Hg in mixed N2/Kr matrices

The electronic fluorescence spectrum of Hg-doped N₂/Kr mixed matrices obtained by laser excitation of the Hg³P₁ level is composed of the Hg “atomic” (³P₁—¹S₀ and ³P₀—¹S₀) fluorescence and the exciplex fluorescence due to the (Hg—N₂)^* complex stable in the excited state. The temperature dependence of their intensities and lifetimes was studied in the temperature range 12–24 K. It is argued that the essential part of the ³P₀ and exciplex emission is due to two types of Hg sites with one N₂ nearest neighbor, differing probably in the orientation of the N₂ molecular axis. Strong irreversible effects due to the diffusion of N₂ molecules induced by laser irradiation are observed.     

Absorption spectra of e-beam-excited Ne, Ar, and Kr, pure and in binary mixtures

A technique using the broadband emission of a laser plume as probe radiation is applied to record UV-visible (190-510 nm) absorption spectra of Ne, Ar, and Kr, pure and in binary mixtures under moderate e-beam excitation up to 1?MW/cm(3). In all the rare gases and mixtures, the absorption spectra show continuum related to Rg(2) (+) homonuclear ions [peaking at λ～285, 295, and 320 nm in Ne, Ar, and Kr(Ar/Kr), respectively] and a number of atomic lines related mainly to Rg(?)(ms) levels, where m is the lowest principal quantum number of the valence electron. In argon, a continuum related to Ar(2) (?) (λ～325?nm) is also recorded. There are also trains of narrow bands corresponding to Rg(2) (?)(npπ?(3)Π(g))←Rg(2) (?)(msσ?(3)Σ(u) (+)) transitions. All the spectral features mentioned above were reported in literature but have never been observed simultaneously. Although charge transfer to a homonuclear ion of the heavier additive is commonly believed to dominate in binary rare-gas mixtures, it is found in this study that in Ne/Kr mixture, the charge is finally transferred from the buffer gas Ne(2) (+) ion not to Kr(2) (+) but to heteronuclear NeKr(+) ion.     

Measurements of circular polarization correlations following excitation of Ar and Kr by electron impact

We report measurements of the circular polarization correlation parameterP ₃ for the excitation of the 4s′[1/2] _j=1 state in Ar by 40 eV electrons and for the excitation of the Kr 5s[3/2] _J=1 state by 30 eV electrons at electron scattering angles up to 50°. The measured Ar data are compared to predictions of a distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA). The agreement is in general not very good with theory predictingP ₃ values considerably larger than the measured values in the regime of small scattering angles. In Kr, where the measured data are compared to theoretical predictions from a DWBA, a first-order many-body theory (FOMBT) and a relativistic distorted wave theory (RDW), the level of agreement between experiment and theory is somewhat better. The measuredP ₃ parameters in conjunction with the previously measured linear coherence parametersP ₁ undP ₂ under the same scattering conditions yield the total polarizationP _tot ⁺ which is a measure for the level of coherence in the excitation process. In both cases studied here, we found values of eliminateP _tot ⁺ that were consistent with a fully coherent excitation process.     

Photochemistry in the charge transfer and neutral excited states of HCl in Xe and Kr matrices

HCl-doped Xe and Kr films are irradiated with wavelength dispersed synchrotron radiation in the wavelength range from 200 to 130 nm. The growth of H, Cl, Xe2H+, XeH2, HXeCl, Kr2H+, and HKrCl as well as the decomposition of HCl are recorded by a combination of UV, VIS, and IR spectroscopy. A turnover in the formation of Xe2H+ and Kr2H+ by a predominant two-step reaction on neutral surfaces at low energies to a one-step formation on ionic surfaces is determined at 172 and 155 nm in Xe and Kr, respectively. A potential energy diagram for neutral and ionic states is derived that is consistent with a DIIS calculation, with new UV fluorescence bands from Xe+HCl- centers, with the turnover energies and with a deconvolution of the absorption spectra in neutral and ionic contributions. The cage exit of charged as well as of neutral H, the latter via a harpoon reaction, is discussed for the ionic surfaces. The self-limitation of HCl decomposition on the neutral surfaces due to absorption by H and Cl fragments is treated quantatively. Dissociation efficiencies phi(e), together with absolute absorption cross sections sigma(H) and sigma(Cl) of the fragments, are derived. sigma(H) and sigma(Cl) are of the order of 10(-16) cm(2) compared to 10(-18) cm(2) for sigma(HCl). Dissociation is accompanied by many excitation cycles of the fragments, which leads to light-induced migration of H and recombination. phi(e) therefore represents a product of the cage exit probability phi that was treated theoretically and the survival probability concerning geminate and nongeminate recombination.     

Radiative and nonradiative lifetimes in excited states of Ar,Kr and Xe atoms in a neon matrix

Synchrotron radiation with its intense continuum and its excellent time structure has been exploited for time resolved luminescence spectroscopy in the solid state. By selective excitation of n = 1, n′ = 2 exciton states of Xe, Kr and Ar atoms in a neon matrix we were able to identify the emitting states involved. Lifetimes within the cascade of radiative and radiationless relaxation between excited states as well as the radiative lifetimes for transitions to the ground state have been derived from the decay curves. Energy positions and radiative lifetimes of the emitting states correspond quite well with those of the free atoms. Radiative and radiationless relaxation processes take place within the manifold of excited states of the guest atoms. The rate constants for radiationless decay confirm an energy gap law. The order of the radiationless processes reaches in some cases extremely high values. Selection rules for spin and angular momentum are essential to understand the observed radiationless transition rates.     

Infrared spectra of monomeric thioformaldehyde in Ar,N2 and Xe matrices

Pyrolysis products of 1,3-dithietane were trapped in low-temperature matrices and their infrared spectra were recorded. The vibrational bands of monomeric H₂CS, which was not perturbed by other decomposition products, were identified in Ar, N₂ and Xe matrices. These results will be useful to evaluate the frequency shifts of H₂CS induced by the interaction with other molecules.     

Theoretical study of Pt-Ng and Ng-Pt-Ng (Ng=Ar,Kr,Xe)

We have investigated the binding of noble-gas (Ng) atoms (Ng=Ar,Kr,Xe) with Pt atom by the ab initio coupled-cluster CCSD(T) method, taking into account the relativistic effects. It is shown that two Ng atoms can bind with Pt atom in linear geometry in the singlet lowest state where the second Ng atom attaches to Pt with the larger binding energy than the first Ng atom. The binding energy is evaluated as 8.2, 17.9, and 33.4 kcal/mol for Ar-Pt-Ar, Kr-Pt-Kr, and Xe-Pt-Xe, respectively, relative to the triplet ground state of the dissociation limit Pt ((3)D)+2Ng. The present results indicate that these Ng-Pt-Ng compounds are possible new gas-phase or matrix species.     

Field-assisted photodesorption of He,Ne, Ar,Kr and CO ions from W

The electric field dependence of the photodesorption yield of several noble gases from a tungsten surface was studied. Above a threshold field the desorption rate of ions increased until the field reached a characteristic value, which corresponds closely to the “best image field” observed for the respective gas in field ion microscopy. At still higher fields, the rate of photodesorption decreased rapidly. The intensity of the desorption signal increased in the order Kr ⪡ Ar < Ne ≈ He. Much less influence of field strength was found with a strongly chemisorbed species, CO.     

Threshold photoelectrons coincidence spectroscopy of the rare gases Ne,Ar, Kr and Xe

Threshold single photon double ionisation of the rare gases neon, argon, krypton and xenon has been studied in an electron-electron coincidence experiment. A new technique has been used where only near-zero energy electrons are detected and these are measured in coincidence. The spectrometer used here employs the penetrating field technique which provides very high detection efficiency, sensitivity and energy resolution. Relative partial double ionisation cross sections have been measured at threshold for then p⁴(³P,¹D and¹S) states of Ne⁺⁺, Ar⁺⁺, Kr⁺⁺ and Xe⁺⁺ and then sn p⁵ (³P and¹P) states of Ne⁺⁺, Ar⁺⁺ and Kr⁺⁺. The observed relative cross sections are in general agreement with a propensity rule for excitation of these states, except for the case of neon.     

Efficient Separation of Ar and Kr from Environmental Samples for Trace Radioactive Noble Gas Detection

Radioactive noble-gas isotopes, ⁸⁵Kr (half-life t_1/2=10.8 y), ³⁹Ar (t_1/2=269 y), and ⁸¹Kr (t_1/2=229,000 y), are ideal tracers and can be detected by atom trap trace analysis (ATTA), a laser-based technique, from environmental samples like air and groundwater. Prior to ATTA measurements, it is necessary to efficiently extract krypton and argon gases from samples. Using a combination of cryogenic distillation, titanium chemical reaction and gas chromatography, we demonstrate that we can recover both krypton and argon gases from 1-10 L "air-like" samples with yields in excess of 90% and 98%, respectively, which meet well the requirements for ATTA measurements. A group of testing samples are analyzed to verify the performance of the system, including two groundwater samples obtained from north China plain.     

Predicted stability and structure of (HXeCCH)n (n=2 or 4) clusters and of crystalline HXeCCH

Ab initio calculations predict the existence of the dimer and tetramer of HXeCCH. The interaction energies are -6.66 and -19.40 kcal mol-1 for the dimer and tetramer, respectively. For both complexes, larger blue shifts of the Xe-H stretching mode are found, while the Xe-C stretching modes are slightly redshifted. The stability and structure of HXeCCH crystals is predicted by density functional theory calculations with periodic boundary conditions. Strong electrostatic interactions are found between the monomers in the crystal. The results are first evidence for the existence of crystalline materials made of a novel class of noble gas molecules.