Penning ionization of N2O molecules by He*(2(3,1)S) and Ne*(3P2,0) metastable atoms: theoretical considerations about the intermolecular interactions

A theoretical investigation of the intermolecular interaction, operative in collision complexes of He*(2 3S1), He*(2 1S0), and Ne*(3P2,0) with N2O, is carried out to explain the main results of the experimental study reported in the preceding paper. The analysis is carried out by means of a semiempirical method based on the identification, modeling, and combination of the leading interaction components, including the effect of the selective polarization of the more external electronic cloud of the metastable atom in the intermolecular electric field. These and other crucial aspects of our approach have been quantitatively verified by ab initio calculations. The proposed method permits to evaluate the interaction at any configuration of the complexes and provides a useful and inexpensive representation of the intermolecular potential energy for dynamics studies. The main experimental findings can be rationalized taking into account the critical balancing between molecular orientation effects in the intermolecular interaction field and the ionization probability. These orientation effects tend to become less pronounced with increasing collision energy.     

Collision-energy-resolved Penning ionization electron spectroscopy of bromomethanes (CH3Br, CH2Br2, and CHBr3) by collision with He*(2(3)S) metastable atoms

Ionization of bromomethanes (CH3Br, CH2Br2, and CHBr3) upon collision with metastable He*(2(3)S) atoms has been studied by means of collision-energy-resolved Penning ionization electron spectroscopy. Lone-pair (nBr) orbitals of Br4p characters have larger ionization cross sections than sigma(C-Br) orbitals. The collision-energy dependence of the partial ionization cross sections shows that the interaction potential between the molecule and the He*(2(3)S) atom is highly anisotropic around CH3Br or CH2Br2, while isotropic attractive interactions are found for CHBr3. Bands observed at electron energies of approximately 2 eV in the He*(2(3)S) Penning ionization electron spectra (PIES) of CH2Br2 and CHBr3 have no counterpart in ultraviolet (He I) photoionization spectra and theoretical (third-order algebraic diagrammatic construction) one-electron and shake-up ionization spectra. Energy analysis of the processes involved demonstrates that these bands and further bands overlapping with sigma(C-Br) or piCH2 levels are related to autoionization of dissociating (He+ - Br-) pairs. Similarly, a band at an electron energy of approximately 1 eV in the He*(2(3)S) PIES spectra of CH3Br has been ascribed to autoionizing Br** atoms released by dissociation of (unidentified) excited states of the target molecule. A further autoionization (S) band can be discerned at approximately 1 eV below the lone-pair nBr bands in the He*(2(3)S) PIES spectrum of CHBr3. This band has been ascribed to the decay of autoionizing Rydberg states of the target molecule (M**) into vibrationally excited states of the molecular ion. It was found that for this transition, the interaction potential that prevails in the entrance channel is merely attractive.     

Penning electron spectra from ionization of hydrogen atoms by He(2S) and He(2S) metastables

Separate Penning electron spectra were measured resulting from the ionization of H atoms by He(2¹S) and He(2³S) metastables in thermal collisions. From these results potential parameters of the diatomics He(2¹S)-H(²S) (²Σ) and He(2³S)-H(²S) (²Σ) as well as the cross-section ratio σ(singlet)/σ(triplet) are derived.     

Collision-energy-resolved Penning ionization electron spectroscopy of p-benzoquinone: study of electronic structure and anisotropic interaction with He(*)(2 (3)S) metastable atoms

Collision energy dependence of partial ionization cross sections (CEDPICS) of p-benzoquinone with He(*)(2 (3)S) metastable atoms indicates that interaction potentials between p-benzoquinone and He(*)(2 (3)S) are highly anisotropic in the studied collision energy range (100-250 meV). Attractive interactions were found around the C==O groups for in-plane and out-of-plane directions, while repulsive interactions were found around CH bonds and the benzenoid ring. Assignment of the first four ionic states of p-benzoquinone and an analogous methyl-substituted compound was examined with CEDPICS and anisotropic distributions of the corresponding two nonbonding oxygen orbitals (n(O) (+),n(O) (-)) and two pi(CC) orbitals (pi(CC) (+),pi(CC) (-)). An extra band that shows negative CEDPICS was observed at ca. 7.2 eV in Penning ionization electron spectrum.     

Penning ionization electron spectroscopy of C6H6 by collision with He*(2 3 S) metastable atoms and classical trajectory calculations: optimization of ab initio model potentials

The potential energy surface of benzene (C(6)H(6)) with a He*(2(3)S) atom was obtained by comparison of experimental data in collision-energy-resolved two-dimensional Penning ionization electron spectroscopy with classical trajectory calculations. The ab initio model interaction potentials for C(6)H(6)+He*(2(3)S) were successfully optimized by the overlap expansion method; the model potentials were effectively modified by correction terms proportional to the overlap integrals between orbitals of the interacting system, C(6)H(6) and He*(2(3)S). Classical trajectory calculations with optimized potentials gave excellent agreement with the observed collision-energy dependence of partial ionization cross sections. Important contributions to corrections were found to be due to interactions between unoccupied molecular orbitals and the He*2s orbital. A C(6)H(6) molecule attracts a He*(2(3)S) atom widely at the region where pi electrons distribute, and the interaction of -80 meV (ca. -1.8 kcal/mol) just cover the carbon hexagon. The binding energy of a C(6)H(6) molecule and a He* atom was 107 meV at a distance of 2.40 A on the sixfold axis from the center of a C(6)H(6) molecule, which is similar to that of C(6)H(6)+Li and is much larger than those of the C(6)H(6)+[He,Ne,Ar] systems.     

Collision-energy-resolved penning ionization electron spectroscopy of phenylacetylene and diphenylacetylene by collision with He*(2(3)s) metastable atoms

Penning ionization of phenylacetylene and diphenylacetylene upon collision with metastable He*(2(3)S) atoms was studied by collision-energy-/electron-energy-resolved two-dimensional Penning ionization electron spectroscopy (2D-PIES). On the basis of the collision energy dependence of partial ionization cross-sections (CEDPICS) obtained from 2D-PIES as well as ab initio molecular orbital calculations for the approach of a metastable atom to the target molecule, anisotropy of interaction between the target molecule and He*(2(3)S) was investigated. For the calculations of interaction potential, a Li(2(2)S) atom was used in place of He*(2(3)S) metastable atom because of its well-known interaction behavior with various targets. The results indicate that attractive potentials localize in the pi regions of the phenyl groups as well as in the pi-conjugated regions of the acetylene group. Although similar attractive interactions were also found by the observation of CEDPICS for ionization of all pi MOs localized at the C[triple bond]C bond, the in-plane regions have repulsive potentials. Rotation of the phenyl groups about the C[triple bond]C bond can be observed for diphenylacetylene because of a low torsion barrier. So the examination of measured PIES was performed taking into consideration the change of ionization energies for conjugated molecular orbitals.     

Collision-energy-resolved penning ionization electron spectroscopy of HCOOH, CH3COOH, and HCOOCH3 by collision with He*(2(3)S) metastable atoms

Penning ionization of formic acid (HCOOH), acetic acid (CH3COOH), and methyl formate (HCOOCH3) upon collision with metastable He*(2(3)S) atoms was studied by collision-energy/electron-energy-resolved two-dimensional Penning ionization electron spectroscopy (2D-PIES). Anisotropy of interaction between the target molecule and He*(2(3)S) was investigated based on the collision energy dependence of partial ionization cross sections (CEDPICS) obtained from 2D-PIES as well as ab initio molecular orbital calculations for the access of a metastable atom to the target molecule. For the interaction potential calculations, a Li atom was used in place of He*(2(3)S) metastable atom because of its well-known similarity in interaction with targets. The results indicate that in the studied collision energy range the attractive potential localizes around the oxygen atoms and that the potential well at the carbonyl oxygen atom is at least twice as much as that at the hydroxyl oxygen. Moreover we can notice that attractive potential is highly anisotropic. Repulsive interactions can be found around carbon atoms and the methyl group.     

Anisotropic interaction and stereoreactivity in a chemi-ionization process of OCS by collision with He*(2(3)S) metastable atoms

Ionic-state-resolved collision energy dependence of Penning ionization cross sections for OCS with He*(2(3)S) metastable atoms was measured in a wide collision energy range from 20 to 350 meV. Anisotropic interaction potential for the OCS-He*(2(3)S) system was obtained by comparison of the experimental data with classical trajectory simulations. It has been found that attractive potential wells around the O and S atoms are clearly different in their directions. Around the O atom, the collinear approach is preferred (the well depth is ca. 90 meV), while the perpendicular approach is favored around the S atom (the well depth is ca. 40 meV). On the basis of the optimized potential energy surface and theoretical simulations, stereo reactivity around the O and S atoms was also investigated. The results were discussed in terms of anisotropy of the potential energy surface and the electron density distribution of molecular orbitals to be ionized.     

Collisions of metastable Ne*, He* atoms with ground-state He,Ne atoms studied by atomic beam and laser techniques

A crossed nozzle-beam experiment is used to investigate thermal energy collisions: Ne*(2p ⁵3s,³ P _{0, 2})+He(1s ²,¹ S ₀), almost purely elastic, and He*(1s2s,^{1, 3} S)+Ne(2p ⁶,¹ S ₀), in which inelastic excitation transfers occur. State and velocity selection of the scattered Ne* atoms is performed using a tunablecw dye laser frequency locked on a definite Zeeman component of the transition 1s ₅→2p ₆ (λ=614.3 nm) of²⁰Ne or²²Ne. In the purely elastic case, this technique allows the selection of one of the two final velocities, and then an unambiguous LAB-CM transformation. The differential cross section at 62 meV tallies on accords with a calculation using a single effective potential. In He* on Ne collisions, the main inelastic processes are endothermic excitation transfers from He*(2¹ S). Experimental results obtained at different energies (62, 95, 109, 124 meV) show that the transfers essentially result in levels 3s and 4d of Ne.     

Dynamics of ionization of H2 by Ne*(3P) investigated by electron spectroscopy

The Penning ionization reaction Ne*(2p(5)3s 3P)+H2-->[NeH2]+ +e- has been studied in crossed supersonic molecular beams with electron-energy analysis at four collision energies E = 1.83, 2.50, 3.16, and 3.89 kcal/mol. The electron kinetic-energy spectra, which directly reflect the ionizing transition region, show resolved peaks assignable to v' = 0-4 of H2+. The vibrational populations deviate systematically from Franck-Condon behavior, suggesting that the discrete-continuum coupling increases with H2 bond stretching. Each peak displays both increasing breadth and increasing blueshift with increasing E, and the blueshift also increases with increasing v'. The first two properties are consistent with a predominantly repulsive excited-state potential-energy surface, while the last is speculated to be a reflection of the rHH dependence of the ionic surface. Quantum scattering calculations based on ab initio potential surfaces for the excited and ionic states in spherical and infinite-order-sudden rigid rotor approximations are in semiquantitative agreement with the measurements. Discrepancies suggest changes in the imaginary, absorptive part of the excited surface, which probably can be best effected by multiproperty fitting calculations.     

The interaction of metastable Ne(3s 3 P 2,3 P 0) atoms with alkali atoms

Using crossed beams of alkali atoms (Li, Na, K) and state-selected metastable Ne(3s ³ P ₂,³ P ₀) atoms, we have measured the energy spectra of electrons resulting in the respective Penning ionization processes at thermal collision energies. The spectra are very different for Ne(³ P ₂) and Ne(³ P ₀): those for Ne(³ P ₂) are broad due to a strongly attractive interaction potential with a well depth of 798 (30) meV (Li), 672(20) meV (Na), and 561(20) meV (K), those for Ne(³ P ₀) are narrow and compatible with van der Waals type attraction (well depth <50 meV). The Ne(³ P ₂) cross section exceeds the one for Ne(³ P ₀) by about an order of magnitude.     

Improved study of the ionization of hydrogen atoms in thermal energy collisions with metastable He(23 S) atoms

The first electron spectrometric study of the ionizing reaction of metastable He(2³ S ₁) atoms with ground state hydrogen atoms has been carried out with sufficiently high resolution to partially resolve the rotational structure due to formation of rovibrationally excited HeH⁺ (v, J) ions at two different beam source temperatures (300 K and 90 K). The electron energy spectrum has been reproduced in model quantum calculations, using a new large scale ab initio calculation of the He(2³ S)+H(1² S)²Σ-potential. The imaginary part has been adjusted to yield a satisfactory fit to the measured spectrum. The collision energy dependence of the associative ionization electron spectra and of the total and partial ionization cross sections is discussed in some detail. No significant signs for limitations of the used local complex potential method, indicated by results of an earlier study of the He(2³ S)+H(1² S) system, have been found in the present work, in which the calculations were carried out with an improved and corrected program.     

The low energy collision between metastable Ne*(3 P 0,2) and He(1 S 0): ab initio potentials,differential cross sections and polarization effects

Potential energies for molecular states dissociating into Ne*(¹ P ₁,³ P _0,1,2) + He(¹ S ₀) have been calculated ab initio within the distance range 4–100a ₀. The SCF energy (without spin-orbit interaction) is optimized on the lowest³Σ state. After CI, the four Λ-states (^1,3Σ,^1,3Π)are obtained. They dissociate into Ne*(^1,3 P) + He(¹ S). All of them are repulsive atR ? 8a ₀, they exhibit shallow wells around 12a ₀ and have a correct asymptotic behaviour (～ -R ^?6). The spin-orbit interaction is introduced, using the Cohen-Schneider scheme, and adiabatic Ω-potentials are derived. The collision at low energy (E ≦ 124 meV) is described in the frame of a fragment-state basis. By means of a deflation procedure, it is shown that states dissociating into Ne*(¹ P ₁) + He can be eliminated, which lead to a 9 × 9 interaction matrix dynamically equivalent to the original 12 × 12 matrix, in the subspace of interest. Collision channels are defined by angular momenta,J (total),j (of Ne*) andl (of the relative motion). Scattering radial equations are solved by the algorithm of Gordon and theS matrix is derived. Two sets of physically meaningful scattering amplitudes (and differential cross sections) are constructed, referred to the incident axis or to the initial and final directions of the internuclear axis. Polarization effects are discussed. The case of a quantization axis perpendicular to the collision plane is also mentioned.     

Ionisation of small molecules by state-selected Ne* (3P0, 3P2) metastable atoms in the 0.06 < E < 6 eV energy range

The velocity dependence and absolute values of the total ionisation cross section for the molecules H₂, N₂, O₂, NO, CO, N₂O, CO₂, and CH₄ by metastable Ne* (³P₀) and Ne* (³P₂) atoms at collision energies ranging from 0.06 to 6.0 eV have been measured in a crossed beam experiment. State selection of the two metastable states of Ne* was obtained by optical pumping with a cw dye laser. We observe a strongly different velocity dependence at collision energies below about 1 eV for the ionisation cross section of the systems Ne*H₂, N₂, CO, and CH₄, and the systems Ne*O₂, NO, CO₂, and N₂O, respectively. The first group shows an increasing cross section in this energy range, similar to the Ne*Ar system, while the second group shows a very flat behaviour. This behaviour correlates with the difference in character (π or σ^b) of the orbital of the electron that is removed from the target molecule. For the molecules H₂, N₂, CO, and CH₄ an electron from a σ^b orbital is removed from the molecule, whereas for O₂, NO, N₂O, and CO₂ an outer π-ortibal electron is involved. For the systems Ne* (³P₀, ³P₂)H₂ we have derived the imaginary part of the optical potential by assuming a real potential similar to the theoretically calculated ground state NaH₂ potential of Botschwina et al. The resonance width Γ(r) as a function of the internuclear distance r shows a saturation at small r (r < 2.8 Å) for both the Ne*(³P₀)H₂ and the Ne*(³P₂)H₂ interaction. This supports previous conclusions of Verheijen et al. and Kroon et al. Reliable values for the absolute value of the total ionisation cross section have been obtained by performing a careful calibration of the density—length product of the supersonic secondary beam. The results are in good agreement with the values of West et al. for experiments without state selection. The total ionisation cross sections for molecules with π-type ionisation orbitals, with their larger spatial extent, in general are larger than those for molecules with σ^b-type ionisation orbitals.     

Angle-energy distributions of Penning ions in crossed molecular beams. IV. He*(21 S,2 3S)+H2-->He+H2+ +e-

Relative doubly differential cross sections for the Penning ionization of H(2) by spin-state-selected metastable He (1s2s) are reported at center-of-mass collision energies E of 3.1 and 4.2 kcal/mol in a crossed supersonic beam experiment employing a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. The measurements are sufficiently dense in velocity space as to avoid having to functionalize the differential cross sections in order to transform the intensities into the c.m. The H(2) (+) product is scattered sharply forward, c.m. Deltatheta<10 degrees half-width at half-maximum, with respect to the incident direction of H(2) at both energies for both spin states. On the average the products have lost energy upon recoil, mean recoil energy E(')相似文献   

Accurate comparison of Hel,NeI photoionization and He(23, 1 S), Ne(3s 3 P s,3 P 0) penning ionization of argon atoms and dimers

Using crossed beams and mass spectrometric ion detection, we have investigated the ionization of argon atoms and dimers in a skimmed supersonic beam by HeI (58.4 nm) and NeI (73.6, 74.4 nm) photons and by He(2^3,1 S) and state selected Ne(3s ³ P ₂,³ P ₀) metastable atoms. The cross section ratioq ₂₂/q ₁ (i.e. the cross sectionq ₂₂ for formation of Ar ₂ ⁺ ions from Ar₂ divided by the total ionization cross sectionq ₁ for Ar atoms), arbitrarily normalized to 1 for HeI impact, is found to vary weakly as follows: HeI/NeI/He(2^{3, 1} S)/Ne(³ P ₀)Ne(³ P ₂)=1/1.136(9)/0.893(4)/1.034(12)/0.985(9). The results are qualitatively interpreted using available information on the intermolecular potentials and the two different ionization processes. The observation thatq ₂₂/q ₁ is 5% larger for Ne(³ P ₀) than for Ne(³ P ₂) is attributed to anomalies in the respective branching ratios for formation of the Ar+(² P _3/2)/Ar⁺(² P _1/2) ion states in conjunction with differences in the stability of the formed Ar-Ar⁺(² P _3/2) and Ar-Ar⁺(² P _1/2) molecular ions.     

Collision-energy-resolved Penning ionization electron spectroscopy of thiazole and benzothiazole: study of ionic states and anisotropic interactions between a metastable He(23S) atom and hetero cyclic compounds

Anisotropic interactions between a metastable He(2(3)S) atom and aromatic heterocyclic compounds (thiazole and benzothiazole) as well as their electronic structures were studied by means of collision-energy/electron-energy resolved two-dimensional Penning ionization electron spectroscopy combined with ab initio molecular orbital calculations. Different collision-energy dependence of partial ionization cross sections (CEDPICS) were clearly observed for different ionic states depending on anisotropic extents of molecular orbitals from which an electron is removed. It was found that thiazole and benzothiazole most strongly attract a He(2(3)S) atom around the region where the nitrogen lone pair orbital extends. For another heteroatom, sulfur, it is relatively weak, but a certain attractive interaction was found for the directions perpendicular to the molecular plane. Benzothiazole was shown to widely attract a He(2(3)S) atom in the out-of-plane directions, since the benzene moiety showed a deeper potential well than the five-membered ring. Assignments of the ionic states including shake-up states were also discussed from observed CEDPICS and ab initio molecular orbital calculations. In particular, for the satellite bands, a negative collision energy dependence of the band intensity was well supported by a configuration-interaction calculation that assigns the satellite bands to be the ionization from pi orbitals accompanying pi-pi or n-pi excitations.     

The interaction of metastable helium atoms with alkaline earth atoms: He*(23 S,21 S)+Mg,Ca, Sr and Ba

We have carried out experimental and theoretical studies of Penning ionization processes occurring in thermal energy collisions of state-selected metastable He*(2³ S) and He*(2¹ S) atoms with ground state alkaline earth atoms X(X=Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba). Penning ionization electron energy spectra for these eight systems, measured with a crossed-beam set-up perpendicular to the collision velocity at energy resolutions 40–70 meV, are reported; relative populations of the different ionic X ⁺ (ml) states are presented and well depths D*_e for the He*+X entrance channel potentials with uncertainties around 25 meV are derived from the electron spectra as follows: He*(2³ S)+Mg/Ca/Sr/Ba: 130/250/240/260 meV; He*(2¹ S) +Mg/Ca/Sr/Ba: 300/570/550/670 meV. The spectra show substantial differences for the three ionic states X ⁺(² S), X ⁺(² P) and X ⁺(² D) and reveal that transitions to a repulsive potential — attributed to He+X ⁺(² P)² Σ formation — are mainly involved for the X ⁺(² P) channel. Ab initio calculations of potential curves, autoionization widths, electron energy spectra and ionization cross sections are reported for the systems He*(2³ S)+Ca and He*(2¹ S)+Ca. The respective well depths D _e ^* are calculated to be 243(15) meV and 544(15) meV; the ionization cross sections at the experimental mean energy of 72 meV amount to 101 Ų and 201 Ų, respectively. Very good overall agreement with the experimental electron spectra is observed.     

The state dependence of the interaction of metastable rare gas atoms Rg*(ms3 P 2,3 P 0) (Rg=Ne,Ar, Kr,Xe) with ground state sodium atoms

Using crossed beams of metastable rare gas atoms Rg*(ms³ P ₂,³ P ₀) (Rg=Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) and ground state sodium atoms Na(3s ² S _1/2), we have measured the energy spectra of electrons released in the respective Penning ionization processes at thermal collision energies. For Rg*(³ P ₂)+Na(3s), the spectra are quite similar for the different rare gases, both in width and shape; they reflect attractive interactions in the entrance channel with well depthsD* _e [meV] decreasing slowly from Rg=Ne to Xe as follows: 676(18); 602(23); 565(26); 555(30). For Rg*(³ P ₀)+Na(3s), the spectra vary strongly with the rare gas, indicating a change in the character of the interaction from van der Waals type attraction (Ne) to chemical binding for Kr and Xe with well depthsD* _e [meV] of: 51(19); 107(25); 432(30); 530(50). These findings are explained through model calculations of the respective potential curves, in which the exchange and the spin orbit interaction in the excited rare gas and the molecular interaction between the two valences-electrons in terms of suitably chosen singlet and triplet potentials are taken into account. These calculations also explain qualitatively the experimental finding that the ratiosq ₂/q ₀ of the ionization cross sections for Rg*(³ P ₂)+Na and Rg*(³ P ₀)+Na vary strongly with the rare gas from Ne to Xe as follows: 15.8(3.2); 2.6(4); 1.4(2); 1.6(4).     

Electron-impact ionization of the metastable Mg(...2p63s3p3P0,2) atoms

Electron-impact ionization of Mg atoms from metastable states was investigated. The method and tech-nique of crossed atomic and electron beam studies are described. The value of the total ionization cross section from the 3s3p ³P_j metastable states for 4... 21 eV incident electron energy was determined. It was found that ionization cross sections from the metastable and ground states differ considerably. This is mainly due to the different mechanisms of ion formation from the metastable and ground states. The results obtained are compared with those calculated in the classical mechanics binary approximation.