The near-IR spectrum of NO(X̃2Π)-He detected through excitation into the Ã-state continuum: A joint experimental and theoretical study

Structural characterization of the NO(X2Π)-N2O complex with mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations

Both positive and negative ions of N₃O₂ have been observed in various experiments. The neutral N₃O₂ was predicted to exist either as a weakly bound NO·N₂O complex or a covalent molecule. The rovibrational spectrum of the NO(X²Π)-N₂O complex has been measured for the first time in the 5.3 µm region using distributed quantum cascade lasers to probe the direct absorption in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. The observed spectrum is analyzed with a semi-rigid asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian for a planar open-shell complex, giving a bent geometry with an a-axis-NO angle of about 21.9°. The vibrationally averaged ²A'-²A″ energy separation is determined to be ε = 144.56(95) cm^-1 for the ground state, indicating that the electronic orbital angular momentum is partially quenched upon complexation. Geometry optimizations of the complex restricted to a planar configuration at the RCCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory show that the ²A″ state is more stable than the ²A' state by about 110 cm^-1 and the N atom of NO points to the central N atom of N₂O at the minimum of the ²A″ state.

IO(X2Π)-Ar cluster: ab initio potential energy surface and dynamical computations

Iodine oxide (IO) is an important tropospheric molecule. In the present paper, we mapped the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the doubly degenerate IO(X2Π)-Ar van der Waals system using single- and double-excitation coupled cluster approaches with non-iterative perturbation treatment of triple excitations [RCCSD(T)] extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit. In addition to bent local minima, we identified a linear Ar-IO complex as a global minimum. Afterwards, we performed scattering calculations on these PESs, considering the non-zero spin-orbit contribution and the Renner-Teller effect. The integral cross-sections exhibit an oscillatory structure vs. the final rotational state, as already observed for the NO(X2Π)-Ar system. Moreover, computations reveal that the Ar-IO complex is stable toward dissociation into IO and Ar. Therefore, it can be found in the atmosphere and participates in iodine compound physical chemical processes occurring there.

Mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy of the Ne-NO(X2Π) complex

The rovibrational spectrum of the Ne-NO(X²Π) open-shell complex has been measured in the 5.3 µm region using distributed feed-back quantum cascade lasers to probe the direct absorption in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. Three P-subbands (P' ← P″: 1/2 ← 1/2, 3/2 ← 1/2, and 5/2 ← 3/2) were observed, where P is the projection of the angular momentum J along the inertial a-axis of the complex. The hyperfine structure due to the nuclei spin of ¹⁴N (I = 1) was partially resolved in the P' ← P″: 1/2 ← 1/2 and 3/2 ← 1/2 subbands. The observed mid-infrared spectrum of Ne-NO (X²Π) together with the previously reported microwave spectrum was analyzed using a modified semirigid asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian for a planar open-shell complex. The band origin is located at 1876.0606(97) cm^-1, which is blue-shifted from that of the NO monomer by only 0.0888 cm^-1. The complex shows strong structural relaxation upon excitation of the overall rotation and the internal rotation of the NO subunit.

Mid-infrared quantum cascade laser spectroscopy of the Ar-NO complex: Fine and hyperfine structure

The rovibrational spectrum of the Ar-NO open-shell complex has been measured in the 5.3 µm region using distributed feed-back quantum lasers to probe the direct absorption in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. Five P-subbands, namely, P^'←P^″:1/2←3/2,1/2←1/2,3/2←1/2,5/2←3/2, and 7/2←5/2, are observed, with J up to 15.5. The hyperfine structure due to the nuclei spin of ¹⁴N (I = 1) can be partially resolved in the P^'←P^″:1/2←3/2,1/2←1/2, and 3/2←1/2 subbands. The fine structure of the observed spectrum is analyzed using a modified semi-rigid rotor Hamiltonian [W. M. Fawzy and J. T. Hougen, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 137, 154-165 (1989)] and an empirical Hamiltonian [Y. Kim and H. Meyer, Int. Rev. Phys. Chem. 20, 219-282 (2001)] separately. The hyperfine structure can be simulated successfully by including hyperfine terms to the semi-rigid rotor Hamiltonian. A linear J-dependence of the angle between the inertial a-axis of the complex and the intramolecular axis of the NO subunit is also introduced in order to model the strong structure relaxation effect in the P = 1/2 state.

Rotational Excitation of the CP(Χ2Σ+) Open Shell Molecule Due to Collision with He(1S)

Phosphorus bearing molecules have been discovered in the circumstellar and interstellar media. Modeling their abundance accurately requires computations of rate coefficients induced by collision with He and H₂ (i.e., the most abundant gaseous components). These calculations may be carried out by first determining highly accurate potential energy surface (PES) and cross sections. In this paper, we present the first PES of the CP(X²Σ⁺)-He(¹S) van der Waals collisional complex. The ab initio interaction potential was performed using the explicitly correlated restricted coupled cluster approach with simple, double, and perturbative triple excitation (RCCSD(T)-F12) in connection with the augmented-correlation consistent-polarized valence triple-ζ Gaussian basis set (aug-cc-pVTZ). The potential presents two minima of -18.62 cm^-1 and -18.72 cm^-1. From the PES obtained, we have computed state-to-state excitation cross sections of CP due to collision with He for energies up to 500 cm^-1. Rotational transitions involving the fine-structure levels of the CP molecule were treated with a recoupling technique based on the scattering matrix calculated with the exact quantum mechanical close coupling method. Discussions on the propensity rules between the fine-structure levels were made and we found that the Δj = ΔN transitions are favored with respect to the Δj ≠ ΔN ones. The data presented in this paper may have a great impact on the accurate determination of the CP abundance in space.