1,209,237 research outputs found
Vibrational energy transfer in ultracold molecule - molecule collisions
We present a rigorous study of vibrational relaxation in p-H2 + p-H2
collisions at cold and ultracold temperatures and identify an efficient
mechanism of ro-vibrational energy transfer. If the colliding molecules are in
different rotational and vibrational levels, the internal energy may be
transferred between the molecules through an extremely state-selective process
involving simultaneous conservation of internal energy and total rotational
angular momentum. The same transition in collisions of distinguishable
molecules corresponds to the rotational energy transfer from one vibrational
state of the colliding molecules to another.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Two-probe theory of scanning tunneling microscopy of single molecules: Zn(II)-etioporphyrin on alumina
We explore theoretically the scanning tunneling microscopy of single
molecules on substrates using a framework of two local probes. This framework
is appropriate for studying electron flow in tip/molecule/substrate systems
where a thin insulating layer between the molecule and a conducting substrate
transmits electrons non-uniformly and thus confines electron transmission
between the molecule and substrate laterally to a nanoscale region
significantly smaller in size than the molecule. The tip-molecule coupling and
molecule-substrate coupling are treated on the same footing, as local probes to
the molecule, with electron flow modelled using the Lippmann-Schwinger Green
function scattering technique. STM images are simulated for various positions
of the stationary (substrate) probe below a Zn(II)-etioporphyrin I molecule. We
find that these images have a strong dependence on the substrate probe
position, indicating that electron flow can depend strongly on both tip
position and the location of the dominant molecule-substrate coupling.
Differences in the STM images are explained in terms of the molecular orbitals
that mediate electron flow in each case. Recent experimental results, showing
STM topographs of Zn(II)-etioporphyrin I on alumina/NiAl(110) to be strongly
dependent on which individual molecule on the substrate is being probed, are
explained using this model. A further experimental test of the model is also
proposed.Comment: Physical Review B, in pres
Dissociation and Decay of Ultra-cold Sodium Molecules
The dissociation of ultracold molecules is studied by ramping an external
magnetic field through a Feshbach resonance. The observed dissociation energy
shows non-linear dependence on the ramp speed and directly yields the strength
of the atom-molecule coupling. In addition, inelastic molecule-molecule and
molecule-atom collisions are characterized
Collisional decay of 87Rb Feshbach molecules at 1005.8 G
We present measurements of the loss-rate coefficients K_am and K_mm caused by
inelastic atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions. A thermal cloud of
atomic 87Rb is prepared in an optical dipole trap. A magnetic field is ramped
across the Feshbach resonance at 1007.4 G. This associates atom pairs to
molecules. A measurement of the molecule loss at 1005.8 G yields K_am=2 10^-10
cm^3/s. Additionally, the atoms can be removed with blast light. In this case,
the measured molecule loss yields K_mm=3 10^-10 cm^3/s
Single-molecule stochastic resonance
Stochastic resonance (SR) is a well known phenomenon in dynamical systems. It
consists of the amplification and optimization of the response of a system
assisted by stochastic noise. Here we carry out the first experimental study of
SR in single DNA hairpins which exhibit cooperatively folding/unfolding
transitions under the action of an applied oscillating mechanical force with
optical tweezers. By varying the frequency of the force oscillation, we
investigated the folding/unfolding kinetics of DNA hairpins in a periodically
driven bistable free-energy potential. We measured several SR quantifiers under
varied conditions of the experimental setup such as trap stiffness and length
of the molecular handles used for single-molecule manipulation. We find that
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the spectral density of measured
fluctuations in molecular extension of the DNA hairpins is a good quantifier of
the SR. The frequency dependence of the SNR exhibits a peak at a frequency
value given by the resonance matching condition. Finally, we carried out
experiments in short hairpins that show how SR might be useful to enhance the
detection of conformational molecular transitions of low SNR.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, supplementary material
(http://prx.aps.org/epaps/PRX/v2/i3/e031012/prx-supp.pdf
Semifluxon molecule under control
Josephson junctions with a phase drop pi in the ground state allow to create
vortices of supercurrent carrying only half of the magnetic flux quantum
Phi_0~2.07*10^-15 Wb. Such semifluxons have two-fold degenerate ground states
denoted up (with flux +Phi_0/2 and supercurrent circulating clockwise) and down
(with flux -Phi_0/2 and supercurrent circulating counterclockwise). We
investigate a molecule consisting of two coupled semifluxons in a 0-pi-0 long
Josephson junction. The fluxes (polarities) of semifluxons are measured by two
on-chip SQUIDs. By varying the dc bias current applied to the 0-pi-0 junction,
we demonstrate controllable manipulation and switching between two states,
up-down and down-up, of a semifluxon molecule. These results provide a major
step towards employing semifluxons as bits or qubits for classical and quantum
digital electronics
Thioglycolic acid on the gold (111) surface and Raman vibrational spectra
The interaction of thioglycolic acid with the Au(111) surface is
investigaged, and it is found that at the low coverage the molecule lies down
on the substrate. If the mercaptan-hydrogen atom is eliminated, the resulting
SCH_2COOH molecule is randomly oriented on the surface. If the carboxylic acid
group in the HSCH_2COOH molecule is deprotonated instead, the HSCH_2COO^
molecule lies down on the surface. However, when the mercaptan-hydrogen atom in
the HSCH_2COO^- molecule is removed, the resulting SCH_2COO^- molecule rises up
to a certain level on the substrate. The calculated Raman vibrational spectra
decipher which compounds and atomic displacements contribute to the
corresponding frequencies. We thus propose a consistent mechanism for the
deposition of thioglycolic acid on the Au(111) surface.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Chem. Phy
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