Imaging Resonance Effects in C + H 2 Collisions Using a Zeeman Decelerator

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry letters Vol. 15; no. 17; pp. 4602 - 4611
• Main Authors: Plomp, Vikram, Wang, Xu-Dong, Kłos, Jacek, Dagdigian, Paul J, Lique, François, Onvlee, Jolijn, van de Meerakker, Sebastiaan Y T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 02-05-2024
• ISSN: 1948-7185; 1948-7185
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03379

An intriguing phenomenon in molecular collisions is the occurrence of scattering resonances, which originate from bound and quasi-bound states supported by the interaction potential at low collision energies. The resonance effects in the scattering behavior are extraordinarily sensitive to the interaction potential, and their observation provides one of the most stringent tests for theoretical models. We present high-resolution measurements of state-resolved angular scattering distributions for inelastic collisions between Zeeman-decelerated C(
) atoms and
-H
molecules at collision energies ranging from 77 cm
down to 0.5 cm
. Rapid variations in the angular distributions were observed, which can be attributed to the consecutive reduction of contributing partial waves and effects of scattering resonances. The measurements showed excellent agreement with distributions predicted by
quantum scattering calculations. However, discrepancies were found at specific collision energies, which most likely originate from an incorrectly predicted quasi-bound state. These observations provide exciting prospects for further high-precision and low-energy investigations of scattering processes that involve paramagnetic species.