Vibrational excitation through tug-of-war inelastic collisions

Stuart J. Greaves, Eckart Wrede, Noah T. Goldberg, Jianyang Zhang, Daniel J. Miller and Richard N. Zare ()
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Stuart J. Greaves: Laser Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Dynamics Group, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol
Eckart Wrede: University of Durham
Noah T. Goldberg: Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA
Jianyang Zhang: Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA
Daniel J. Miller: Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA
Richard N. Zare: Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7200, 88-91

Abstract: Tugging the hydrogen atoms A simple and much-studied example of vibrationally inelastic collisions is the crashing of a hydrogen atom into a deuterium molecule. The conventional view of the process is that transient compression of the D–D bond gives rise to vibrational excitation, then the colliding partners scatter backwards. Surprisingly, experiments now reveal a different inelastic scattering mechanism. Greaves et al. observed vibrational excitation even in collisions where the two species merely graze each other. They attribute this to extension of the D–D bond through interaction with the passing H atom. This tug-of-war mechanism should be at play whenever attraction can develop between colliding partners.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07079

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