Excimer laser photolysis studies of translational-to-vibrational energy transfer

A new technique is presented to study translation-to-vibrational (T—V) energy transfer and translationally enhanced reactive events. The method utilizes excimer laser photolysis to produce translationally “hot” atoms and time-resolved infrared detection of specific excited states.     

Infrared laser enhanced reactions: V→V and V→T energy transfer in the O3SiF4O2 system

Rapid V→V energy transfer between SiF₄ and O₃ has been observed following laser excitation of either O₃ or SiF₄. A CO₂ laser tuned to either the 9.6 μ P(30) or P(32) transitions was used to promote vibrational excitation in O₃ and SiF₄, respectively. In experiments employing the P(32) transition, the V→V transfer to O₃ and subsequent reaction of O₃² with NO were used to obtain the rate constant of V→T deactivation of SiF₄² by O₂.

Fractional modulation measurements of the chemiluminescence generated by the O₃ + NO reaction were used in experiments employing the P(30) transition to obtain a rate constant for the V→V energy transfer between O₃² and SiF₄.

     

Vibrational energy transfer and relaxation in O2 and H2O

Near-resonant vibrational energy exchange between oxygen and water molecules is an important process in the Earth's atmosphere, combustion chemistry, and the chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL). The reactions in question are (1) O2(1) + O2(0) --> O2(0) + O2(0); (2) O2(1) + H2O(000) --> O2(0) + H2O(000); (3) O2(1) + H2O(000) <--> O2(0) + H2O(010); (4) H2O(010) + H2O(000) --> H2O(000) + H2O(000); and (5) H2O(010) + O2(0) --> H2O(000) + O2(0). Reanalysis of the data available in the chemical kinetics literature provides reliable values for rate coefficients for reactions 1 and 4 and strong evidence that reactions 2 and 5 are slow in comparison with reaction 3. Analytical solution of the chemical rate equations shows that previous attempts to measure the rate of reaction 3 are unreliable unless the water mole fraction is higher than 1%. Reanalysis of data from the only experiment satisfying this constraint provides a rate coefficient of (5.5 +/- 0.4) x 10(-13) cm3/s at room temperature, between the values favored by the atmospheric and laser modeling communities.     

A laser induced fluorescence study of vibrational energy transfer in dideuteromethane

V—V and V—T/R rates of ν₁, ν₂, ν₃, ν₆, ν₈, and ν₉ of CH₂D₂ were measured and are reported. The deactivation efficiencies of rare gas collision partners were measured and calculated by SSH theory, the results are reported and discussed. Possible V—V pathways are presented and discussed.     

Infrared laser induced chemical reactions

It is shown that a high power infrared laser can enhance a chemical reaction (by lowering the activation energy) even if the reactants are infrared inactive.     

A laser induced fluorescence study of vibrational energy transfer processes in cyclopropane

Results of infrared laser induced fluorescence studies on cyclopropane are presented. Molecules were excited from the ground state to the v₁₀ level of cyclopropane using a Q-switched CO₂ laser operating on either the P(14) or P(20) transition of the 9.6 μ branch. Fluorescence was observed from the v₆, v₈, v₁₀ + v₁₁ and v₅ + v₁₀ levels of cyclopropane. The self-deactivation of vibrationally excited cyclopropane through V → T/R processes was found to have a rate of 8.0 ± 1.5 ms^?1 torr^?1. Deactivation by rare gas collisions was also studied with comparison to simple V → T and V → R theories. V → V equilibration processes are discussed involving the v₆, v₈, v₁₀, v₁₁, and v₁₀ + v₁₁ levels.     

Charge transfer in S2++H collisions at intermediate energy

Partial cross-sections for the charge transfer process of S²⁺ ions in collision with atomic hydrogen at impact energies up to 8 keV have been calculated by means of a semi-classical method using ab initio potential energy curves and couplings. The results are in relatively good agreement with experiment and improve significantly previous Landau-Zener calculations.     

Infrared spectrum of gaseous carbonyl fluoride-18O

From the infrared spectra of gaseous carbonyl fluoride-¹⁸O(F¹²₂C¹⁸O) the six fundamental vibrational frequencies (in cm⁻¹) are: (a₁) 1895.2 (average of Fermi resonance doublet), 947.3, 576.5; (b₁) 1242.3, 604.9; (b₂) 770.0. These unambiguous assignments are consistent with the less certain assignments for this isotopic species that Mallinson, McKean, Holloway and Oxton, Spectrochim. Acta 31A, 143 (1975) derived from an argon-matrix spectrum of 4% F¹²2 C¹⁸O in a mixture of four isotopomers.     

Spin-orbit coupling in O2(v)+O2 collisions: a new energy transfer mechanism

A reduced dimensionality model is used to study the relaxation of highly vibrationally excited O(2)(X (3)Sigma(g) (-),v>/=20) in collisions with O(2)(X (3)Sigma(g) (-),v=0). Spin-orbit coupled potential energy surfaces are employed to incorporate the vibrational-to-electronic energy transfer mechanism involving the O(2)(a (1)Delta(g)) and O(2)(b (1)Sigma(g) (+)) excited states. The transition probabilities obtained show a sharp increase for v>/=26 providing the first direct evidence of the important role played by the electronic energy transfer processes in the depletion of O(2)(X (3)Sigma(g) (-),v>/=26).     

Quantum state-resolved energy transfer dynamics at gas-liquid interfaces: IR laser studies of CO2 scattering from perfluorinated liquids

An apparatus for detailed study of quantum state-resolved inelastic energy transfer dynamics at the gas-liquid interface is described. The approach relies on supersonic jet-cooled molecular beams impinging on a continuously renewable liquid surface in a vacuum and exploits sub-Doppler high-resolution laser absorption methods to probe rotational, vibrational, and translational distributions in the scattered flux. First results are presented for skimmed beams of jet-cooled CO(2) (T(beam) approximately 15 K) colliding at normal incidence with a liquid perfluoropolyether (PFPE) surface at E(inc) = 10.6(8) kcal/mol. The experiment uses a tunable Pb-salt diode laser for direct absorption on the CO(2) nu(3) asymmetric stretch. Measured rotational distributions in both 00(0)0 and 01(1)0 vibrational manifolds indicate CO(2) inelastically scatters from the liquid surface into a clearly non-Boltzmann distribution, revealing nonequilibrium dynamics with average rotational energies in excess of the liquid (T(s) = 300 K). Furthermore, high-resolution analysis of the absorption profiles reveals that Doppler widths correspond to temperatures significantly warmer than T(s) and increase systematically with the J rotational state. These rotational and translational distributions are consistent with two distinct gas-liquid collision pathways: (i) a T approximately 300 K component due to trapping-desorption (TD) and (ii) a much hotter distribution (T approximately 750 K) due to "prompt" impulsive scattering (IS) from the gas-liquid interface. By way of contrast, vibrational populations in the CO(2) bending mode are inefficiently excited by scattering from the liquid, presumably reflecting much slower T-V collisional energy transfer rates.     

Comments on the energy transfer dye laser

Kinetic analysis of an energy transfer dye laser is presented. The laser gain function depends on the molecular parameters and on the concentrations of both the donor and acceptor. For the low signal limit the gain shows linear dependence on either the donor or the acceptor concentrations for a fixed donor-acceptor concentration ratio. This behavior has been confirmed experimentally.     

Intermode energy transfer in vibrationally excited O3

The laser excited fluorescence method has been employed to determine the rate constants for vibrational relaxation of the O₃ (010), O₃ (100) and O₃ (001) levels at 298 K. The fluorescence observations from the O₃ (010) level provide direct measurements of the rate for intermode vibrational energy transfer from the coupled ν₁ and ν₃ modes to the ν₂ mode. The slowness of this process indicates the likelihood that the ν₁ and/or ν₃ modes (rather than the ν₂ mode) play a predominant role in the laser enhanced reaction between O₃² and NO at 298 K.     

Vibrationally induced proton transfer in F- (H2O) and F- (D2O)

Vibrational predissociation spectra of the F(-)(H(2)O) x Ar and F(-)(D(2)O) x Ar complexes are observed over a range of 600 to 3800 cm(-1), which include bands attributed to the fundamentals as well as the first two overtones of the vibrations primarily associated with the shared hydrogen. This information allows us to characterize both the extended potential surface confining the anionic H-bonded hydrogen and the degree to which this motion is coupled to the motions of other atoms in the complex. We analyze these new data with reduced dimensional treatments using explicit potential energy and electric dipole moment surfaces. The often employed one-dimensional treatment with fixed OF distance does not even qualitatively account for the observed isotope dependent level structures, but a simple extension to two dimensions, corresponding to the OF distance and the shared proton position, accurately recovers the observed spectra. The resulting two-dimensional wave functions are used to evaluate the extent of proton transfer in each vibrational level. The main conclusion of this work is that vibrational excitation of the shared proton can be regarded as optically driven, intracluster proton transfer.     

Infrared matrix isolation study of the oxidation of H2S by CrCl2O2

The thermal and photochemical reactions between CrO2Cl2 and H2S have been investigated using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. Twin-jet co-deposition of the two reagents into argon matrices at 14 K followed by irradiation with light of lambda > 300 nm led to the growth of a number of new bands. These have been assigned to the HSOH-CrCl2O complex, and to SO2. These assignments were supported by deuterium isotopic substitution and high level density functional calculations. Merged-jet deposition with the reaction zone at temperatures above 125 degrees C led to substantial yields of SO2 and HCl, as well as the complex of HCl with excess parent H2S. The evidence suggests that the thermal and photochemical reactions may follow different pathways.     

Level-to-level vibrational energy transfer studies: energy dependence and observation of product species for azulenes(S0, Evib) + CO2

V—V energy transfer from a large molecule excited to vibrational energies of chemical interest has been demonstrated by detection of ≈ 1.5% yield of CO₂(001) due to energy transfer from azulene (E_vib ≈ 30600 cm^?1. Also, the average enery lost per collision by azulene was measured as a function of E_vib, and the rate constant for CO₂(001) deactivation by azulene was determined.     

Luminescence and energy transfer in a highly symmetrical system: Eu2Ti2O7

Luminescence and energy transfer properties of Gd₂Ti₂O₇: Eu and Eu₂Ti₂O₇ are reported. Transfer between unperturbed (intrinsic) Eu³⁺ ions and perturbed (extrinsic) Eu³⁺ ions has been observed. At low temperatures the emission spectra of Eu₂Ti₂O₇ are dominated by trap emission, due to direct energy transfer from the intrinsic Eu³⁺ ions to the extrinsic Eu³⁺ ions. Above 10 K energy migration among the Eu³⁺ ions to quenching centers occurs. The interaction between the Eu³⁺ ions is probably exchange in character. The nature of the extrinsic Eu³⁺ ions has been elucidated.     

Infrared laser photoisomerization of 2-fluoroethanol in argon

Different products result from single-photon IR photolysis of 2-fluoroethanol in solid argon depending upon the vibrational mode that is excited. Irradiation of the OH stretch causes an interconversion of the two most stable isomers T₁ and G_g. Irradiation of one CH stretch results in the formation of significant yields of the less stable G₁ and T_g isomers. The isomers of 2-fluoroethanol can be photooriented in argon by IR irradiation.     

The potential energy curves of low-lying electronic states of S2O

Potential energy curves (PECs) of the symmetric and asymmetric bent S(2)O molecules are constructed using the configuration-based multireference second order perturbation theory and multireference configuration interaction with single and double excitations. Based on the PECs, the equilibrium structures of the ground state and several low-lying excited states, as well as the vertical and adiabatic transition energies, are obtained. Furthermore, avoided crossings and intersections displayed on the PECs are studied. The dissociation of states for the asymmetric bent S(2)O, especially the predissociative of the excited (~)C1A' state, is also discussed in detail. According to our calculations, the predissociation limit of (~)C1A' is found to be located in the vicinity of 2(6) or 2(5) (reckoning in the zero-point energy revision) S-S stretching vibration level, which is in good agreement with the available experimental data.     

Infrared laser absorption spectra of rydberg transitions of O atoms

Many n = 6←5 and 7←6 Rydberg transitions of the oxygen atom have been detected in absorption using infrared diode lasers and twenty-one resolved or partially resolved lines have been accurately calibrated. Line intensities are in agreement with published oscillator strengths. Recent observations on O-atom emission from a laser produced plasma are confirmed.