A general method for controlling and resolving rotational orientation of molecules in molecule-surface collisions

Oded Godsi, Gefen Corem, Yosef Alkoby, Joshua T. Cantin, Roman V. Krems, Mark F. Somers, Jörg Meyer, Geert-Jan Kroes, Tsofar Maniv and Gil Alexandrowicz ()
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Oded Godsi: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
Gefen Corem: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
Yosef Alkoby: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
Joshua T. Cantin: University of British Columbia
Roman V. Krems: University of British Columbia
Mark F. Somers: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University
Jörg Meyer: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University
Geert-Jan Kroes: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University
Tsofar Maniv: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
Gil Alexandrowicz: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract The outcome of molecule–surface collisions can be modified by pre-aligning the molecule; however, experiments accomplishing this are rare because of the difficulty of preparing molecules in aligned quantum states. Here we present a general solution to this problem based on magnetic manipulation of the rotational magnetic moment of the incident molecule. We apply the technique to the scattering of H2 from flat and stepped copper surfaces. We demonstrate control of the molecule’s initial quantum state, allowing a direct comparison of differences in the stereodynamic scattering from the two surfaces. Our results show that a stepped surface exhibits a much larger dependence of the corrugation of the interaction on the alignment of the molecule than the low-index surface. We also demonstrate an extension of the technique that transforms the set-up into an interferometer, which is sensitive to molecular quantum states both before and after the scattering event.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15357

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