Electron spectra for associative detachment in low-energy collisions of Cl⁻ and Br⁻ with H and D

Energy spectra of electrons detached in collisions of Cl⁻ and Br⁻ with atomic hydrogen and deuterium have been measured for laboratory frame ion energies between 0.2 and 8.0 eV. Their shapes agree very well with the predictions of nonlocal resonance theory. Both types of structure predicted by the theory are observed. They are the 'v steps', at ro-vibrational thresholds, and the 'S steps', which are a consequence of interchannel coupling, which raises the cross section when a higher vibrational channel closes. They exhibit the behaviour predicted by theory both when the collision energy is varied and upon isotope substitution. The 'v steps' move to higher electron energies with higher collision energy and when hydrogen is substituted by deuterium, reflecting the higher maximum energy available to the electron. The positions of the S steps do not depend on collision energy, and are essentially equal to differences of vibrational energies of the product molecules HCl, DCl, HBr and DBr. The relative cross sections for formation of low vibrational levels (i.e., emission of fast electrons) are smaller in the deuterated compounds, reflecting the slower motion of D compared to H and consequently preferred detachment at high internuclear separations

Effects of interchannel coupling in associative detachment: electron spectra for H+Cl⁻ and H+Br⁻ collisions

We present experimental and theoretical energy spectra of the electrons detached in collisions of slow Cl⁻ and Br⁻ ions with atomic hydrogen. Nonlocal resonance theory predicts two kinds of features in the spectra: steplike structures associated with rovibrational onsets and steep rises associated with interchannel coupling, the latter being absent in a calculation using the simpler local-complex potential theory. Our experimental spectra confirm the presence of both types of structures and thus the necessity of including interchannel coupling to properly describe the product-state distribution

Resonance contributions to low-energy electron collisions with molecular hydrogen

Calculations of electron dissociative attachment and vibrational excitation of molecular hydrogen by low-energy electrons based on an improved nonlocal resonance model are reported. The role of the rotational excitation of the target molecules is discussed