Ab initio potential energy surface and near‐infrared spectrum of the He–C2H2 complex

Unusual Dynamics and Vibrational Fingerprints of van der Waals Dimers Formed by Linear Molecules and Rare-Gas Atoms

Detailed structural, dynamical, and vibrational analyses have been performed for systems composed of linear triatomic molecules solvated by a single rare-gas atom, He, Ne, or Ar. Among the chromophores of these van der Waals (vdW) dimers, there are four neutral molecules (CO2, CS2, N2O, and OCS) and six molecular cations (HHe2+, HNe2+, HAr2+, HHeNe+, HHeAr+, and HNeAr+), both of apolar and polar nature. Following the exploration of bonding preferences, high-level four-dimensional (4D) potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been developed for 24 vdW dimers, keeping the two intramonomer bond lengths fixed. For these 24 complexes, over 1500 bound vibrational states have been obtained via quasi-variational nuclear-motion computations, employing exact kinetic-energy operators together with the accurate 4D PESs and their 2D/3D cuts. The reduced-dimensional (2D to 4D) dimer models have been compared with full-dimensional (6D) ones in the cases of the neutral CO2·Ar and charged HHe2+·He dimers, corroborating the high accuracy of the 2D to 4D vibrational energies. The reduced-dimensional models suggest that (a) while the equilibrium structures are T-shaped and planar, the effective ground-state structures are nonplanar, (b) certain bound states belong to collinear molecular structures, even when they are not minima, (c) the vdW vibrations are heavily mixed and many states have amplitudes corresponding to both the T-shaped and collinear structures, (d) there are a few dimers, for which even some of the vdW fundamentals lie above the first dissociation limit, and (e) the vdW vibrations are almost fully decoupled from the intramonomer bending motion.

Collisional Relaxation of Highly Vibrationally Excited Acetylene Mediated by the Vinylidene Isomer

Collisional relaxation of highly vibrationally excited acetylene, generated from the 193 nm photolysis of vinyl bromide with roughly 23,000 cm-1 of nascent vibrational energy, is studied via submicrosecond time-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) emission spectroscopy. IR emission from vibrationally hot acetylene during collisional relaxation by helium, neon, argon, and krypton rare-gas colliders is recorded and analyzed to deduce the acetylene energy content as a function of time. The average energy lost per collision, ⟨ΔE⟩, is computed using the Lennard-Jones collision frequency. Two distinct vibrational-to-translational (V-T) energy transfer regimes in terms of the acetylene energy are identified. At vibrational energies below 10,000-14,000 cm-1, energy transfer efficiency increases linearly with molecular energy content and is in line with typical V-T behavior in quantity. In contrast, above 10,000-14,000 cm-1, the V-T energy transfer efficiency displays a dramatic and rapid increase. This increase is nearly coincident with the acetylene-vinylidene isomerization limit, which occurs nearly 15,000 cm-1 above the acetylene zero-point energy. Combined quasi-classical trajectory calculations and Schwartz-Slawsky-Herzfeld-Tanczos theory point to a vinylidene contribution being responsible for the large enhancement. This observation illustrates the influence of energetically accessible structural isomers to greatly enhance the energy transfer rates of highly vibrationally excited molecules.

The infrared spectrum of the Ne-C2D2 complex

Infrared spectra of Ne-C2D2 are observed in the region of the ν3 fundamental band (asymmetric C-D stretch, ≈2440 cm(-1)) using a tunable optical parametric oscillator to probe a pulsed supersonic slit jet expansion from a cooled nozzle. Like helium-acetylene, this system lies close to the free rotor limit, making analysis tricky because stronger transitions tend to pile up close to monomer (C2D2) rotation-vibration transitions. Assignments are aided by predicted rotational energies calculated from a published ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface. The analysis extends up to the j = 3←2 band, where j labels C2D2 rotation within the dimer, and is much more complete than the limited infrared assignments previously reported for Ne-C2H2 and Ne-C2HD. Two previous microwave transitions within the j = 1 state of Ne-C2D2 are reassigned. Coriolis model fits to the theoretical levels and to the spectrum are compared. Since the variations observed as a function of C2D2 vibrational excitation are comparable to those noted between theory and experiment, it is evident that more detailed testing of theory will require vibrational averaging over the acetylene intramolecular modes.

The infrared spectrum of the He-C2D2 complex

Spectra of the helium-acetylene complex are elusive because this weakly bound system lies close to the free rotor limit. Previously, limited assignments of He-C2D2 transitions in the R(0) region of the ν3 fundamental band (≈2440 cm(-1)) were published. Here, new He-C2D2 infrared spectra of this band are obtained using a tunable optical parametric oscillator laser source to probe a pulsed supersonic slit jet expansion from a cooled nozzle, and the analysis is extended to the weaker and more difficult P(1) and R(1) regions. A term value approach is used to obtain a consistent set of "experimental" energy levels. These are compared directly with calculations using two recently reported ab initio intermolecular potential energy surfaces, which exhibit small but significant differences. Rovibrational energies for the He-C2H2 complex are also calculated using both surfaces. A Coriolis model, useful for predicting spectral intensities, is used to interpret the energy level patterns, and a comparison with the isoelectronic complex He-CO is made.

Formation of coherent rotational wavepackets in small molecule-helium clusters using impulsive alignment

We show that rotational line spectra of molecular clusters with near zero permanent dipole moments can be observed using impulsive alignment. Aligned rotational wavepackets were generated by non-resonant interaction with intense femtosecond laser pump pulses and then probed using Coulomb explosion by a second, time-delayed femtosecond laser pulse. By means of a Fourier transform a rich spectrum of rotational eigenstates was derived. For the smallest cluster, C(2)H(2)-He, we were able to establish essentially all rotational eigenstates up to the dissociation threshold on the basis of theoretical level predictions. The C(2)H(2)-He complex is found to exhibit distinct features of large amplitude motion and very early onset of free internal rotor energy level structure.

Effect of the intermolecular excitation in the vibrational predissociation dynamics of van der Waals complexes and the implications for control

The effect of intermolecular excitation on the vibrational predissociation lifetime is investigated systematically for different vdW complexes Rg-X2(B, v') (Rg = rare gas atom, X = halogen atom) by means of wave packet simulations. The lifetime as a function of intermolecular excitation displays a pattern of maxima and minima, with a similar shape for the different Rg-X2(B, v') complexes. The pattern is consistent with previous experimental findings involving lifetimes of intermolecular excitations in similar systems. The structure of the lifetime pattern is found to be determined by the shape of the resonance wave functions in the two van der Waals degrees of freedom, and more specifically by the magnitude of the overlap between the wave function and the coupling responsible for predissociation. Lifetime maxima and minima are associated with minima and maxima of this overlap, respectively. Implications for control of the complex lifetime are discussed.

Probing the structure and dynamics of molecular clusters using rotational wave packets

Rotational wave packets of the weakly bound C(2)H(2)-He complex have been created using impulsive alignment. The coherent rotational dynamics were monitored for 600 ps enabling extraction of a frequency spectrum showing multiple rotational energy levels up to J = 4. spectrum has been combined with ab initio calculations to show that the complex has a highly delocalized structure and is bound only by ca. 7 cm(-1). The experiments demonstrate how highly featured rotational spectra can be obtained from an extremely cold environment where only the lowest rotational energy states are initially populated.

Prediction of the existence of the N2H- molecular anion

We predict the existence of the N(2)H(-) anion from first principle calculations. We present the three-dimensional potential energy surface and the bound states of the N(2)H(-)/D(-) van der Waals anion. The electronic calculations were performed using state-of-the-art ab initio methods and the nuclear motions were solved using a quantum close-coupling scattering theory. A T-shaped equilibrium structure was found, with a well depth of 349.1 cm(-1), where 18 bound states have been located for N(2)H(-) and 25 for N(2)D(-) for total angular momentum J = 0. We also present the absorption spectra of the N(2)H(-) complex. This anion could be formed after low energy collisions between N(2) and H(-) through radiative association. The importance of this prediction in astrophysics and the possible use of N(2)H(-) as a tracer of N(2) and H(-) in the interstellar medium is discussed.

Vibrational predissociation dynamics of He-I2(B) mediated by orbiting resonances

The He-I(2)(B, v) resonances embedded in the continuum of the v = 60 and 59 vibrational manifolds are investigated. Such states manifest a nature of overlapping and long-lived orbiting resonances, which are supported by centrifugal barriers originated in internal rotational excitation of I(2) and He within the complex. The same number of orbiting resonances, six, is found for v = 60 and for v = 59, with similar energy positions and wave functions, indicating that the spectrum of orbiting resonances changes slowly with the vibrational state v. Three of the orbiting resonances appear at nearly the same energies as the peaks observed experimentally in the vibrational relaxation cross section of I(2)(B, v = 21) through low temperature collisions with He. Such finding suggests that the cross section peaks have their origin in orbiting resonances of the He-I(2)(B, v = 21) complex formed upon the collision.

Symmetry-adapted perturbation theory utilizing density functional description of monomers for high-spin open-shell complexes

We present an implementation of symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) to interactions of high-spin open-shell monomers forming high-spin dimers. The monomer spin-orbitals used in the expressions for the electrostatic and exchange contributions to the interaction energy are obtained from density functional theory using a spin-restricted formulation of the open-shell Kohn-Sham (ROKS) method. The dispersion and induction energies are expressed through the density-density response functions predicted by the time-dependent ROKS theory. The method was applied to several systems: NH...He, CN...Ne, H2O...HO2, and NH...NH. It provides accuracy comparable to that of the best previously available methods such as the open-shell coupled-cluster method with single, double, and noniterative triple excitations, RCCSD(T), with a significantly reduced computational cost.

Intermolecular interaction potentials for the Ar–C2H2, Kr–C2H2, and Xe–C2H2 weakly bound complexes: Information from molecular beam scattering, pressure broadening coefficients, and rovibrational spectroscopy

Integral cross sections and pressure broadening coefficients have been measured for the acetylene-krypton complex, by molecular beam scattering and by high resolution IR spectroscopy, respectively. A new potential energy surface (PES) is proposed to describe structure and dynamical properties of this prototypical weakly bound complex. The PES has been parametrized exploiting a novel atom-bond pairwise additive scheme and has been fitted to the experimental data. A similar PES has been obtained for the acetylene-xenon system by a proper scaling of the interaction parameters of the krypton case, based on empirical considerations. These PESs together with that recently proposed by the same authors [J. Phys. Chem. 109, 8471 (2005)] for the acetylene-argon case have been employed for close coupling calculations of the pressure broadening cross sections and for a characterization of the rovibrational structure of the complexes.

Accurate intermolecular ground-state potential-energy surfaces of the HCCH–He, Ne, and Ar van der Waals complexes

Accurate ground-state intermolecular potential-energy surfaces are obtained for the HCCH-He, Ne, and Ar van der Waals complexes. The interaction energies are calculated at the coupled cluster singles and doubles including connected triple excitations level and fitted to analytic functions. For the three complexes we start with systematic basis set studies carried out at several intermolecular geometries, and using augmented correlation consistent polarized valence basis sets x-aug-cc-pVXZ (x=-,d; X=D,T,Q,5), also extended with a set of 3s3p2d1f1g midbond functions. The aug-cc-pVQZ-33211 surfaces of HCCH-He, Ne, and Ar complexes are characterized by absolute minima of -24.22, -50.20, and -122.17 cm(-1) at distances R between the rare-gas atom and the HCCH centers of mass of 4.35, 3.95, and 3.99 A, respectively; and at angles between the vector R and the HCCH main symmetry axis of 0 degrees , 43.3 degrees , and 60.6 degrees . The results are compared and considerably improve those previously available.

Roton-rotation coupling of acetylene in 4He

Rotational absorption spectra of acetylene in superfluid 4He calculated using a path-integral correlation function approach are seen to result in an anomalously large distortion constant in addition to a reduced rotational constant, with values in excellent agreement with recent experiments. Semianalytic treatment of the dynamics with a combined correlated basis function-diffusion Monte Carlo method reveals that this anomalous behavior is due to strong coupling of the higher rotational states of the molecule with the roton and maxon excitations of 4He, and the associated divergence of the 4He density of states in this region.

CONSTRUCTINGMULTIDIMENSIONALMOLECULARPOTENTIALENERGYSURFACES FROMABINITIODATA

This paper describes the reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) method for constructing accurate, smooth, and efficient global potential energy surface (PES) representations for polyatomic systems using high-level ab initio data. The RKHS method provides a rigorous and effective framework for smooth multivariate interpolation of arbitrarily scattered data points and also for incorporating various physical requirements onto the PESs. Smoothness, permutation symmetry, and the asymptotic properties of polyatomic systems can be incorporated into the construction of reproducing kernels to render globally accurate PESs. Tensor products of one-dimensional generalized-spline-reproducing kernels are amenable to a fast algorithm, which makes a single evaluation of RKHS PESs essentially independent of the number of interpolated ab initio data points. This efficient implementation enables the study of the detailed dynamics of polyatomic systems based on high-quality RKHS PESs.