Vibrational and Rotational Excitation of Small Molecules in Collisions with Hot H and D Atoms

Diode laser studies of collisional energy transfer

“…Thus, we have used diode laser probing to investigate the quantum state and velocity recoil profiles of fragments produced in bimolecular chemical reactions19 and to study the vibrational, rotational, and translational energy distributions of bath molecules "heated" by collisions with highly vibrationally excited molecules.16'18'20 '21 In addition, we have used this same technique to follow the transfer of energy from electronically excited atoms3-5'22 and hot electrons23-24 to cold quencher molecules, to determine the energy disposition in photodissociation,8'12 and to study V-V energy transfer,10 as well as to study interactions between translationally hot atoms and cold molecules. 25 The remarkable resolution of the diode laser probe method has several advantages. First, specific quantum-state-resolved details of kinetic processes such as photodissociation, inelastic collisions, or chemical reactions can be probed at a previously unattainable level.…”