Reactive scattering of a helium seeded oxygen atom beam

A high pressure microwave discharge source operating with a dilute mixture of O₂ in He has been used to produce a supersonic nozzle beam of O atoms seeded in He. This source has been used to study the reactive scattering of O atoms with Cl₂ and CS₂ molecules at an initial translational energy E = 38 kJ mol^?1. Velocity distribution of reactive scattering were measured over a wide angular range by cross-correlation time-of-flight analysis. The O + Cl₂ reaction proceeds via a short-lived collision complex while the O + CS₂ reaction follows a stripping mechanism.