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Science

Quantum control of molecular collisions at 1 kelvin

William E. Perreault, Nandini Mukherjee, Richard N. Zare

Published Oct 19, 2017• 169 citations
Publisher

Abstract

= 2) was prepared by Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage, with its bond axis aligned preferentially parallel or perpendicular to the lab-fixed relative velocity. The coexpansion brought the collision temperature down to 1 kelvin, restricting scattering to s and p partial waves. Scattering angular distributions showed a dramatic stereodynamic preference (~3:1) for perpendicular versus parallel alignment. The four-vector correlation measured between the initial and final velocities and the initial and final rotational angular momentum vectors of HD provides insight into the strong anisotropic forces present in the collision process.

DOI
10.1126/science.aao3116

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= 2) was prepared by Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage, with its bond axis aligned preferentially parallel or perpendicular to the lab-fixed relative velocity. The coexpansion brought the collision temperature down to 1 kelvin, restricting scattering to s and p partial waves. Scattering angular distributions showed a dramatic stereodynamic preference (~3:1) for perpendicular versus parallel alignment. The four-vector correlation measured between the initial and final velocities and the initial and final rotational angular momentum vectors of HD provides insight into the strong anisotropic forces present in the collision process.
, stereodynamics of molecular collisions. The Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage technique developed in the last several years has become a versatile tool to study the stereodynamics of light molecular collisions in which alignment of the molecular bond axis relative to initial collision velocity can be fully controlled. Landmark experiments reported by Zare and coworkers have motivated new theoretical developments, including formalisms to describe four-vector correlations in molecular collisions that are revealed by the experiments. In this Feature article, we provide an overview of recent theoretical developments for the description of stereodynamics of cold molecular collisions and their implications to cold controlled chemistry.
The amount of information that can be obtained from a scattering experiment depends upon the precision with which the quantum states are defined in the incoming channel. By precisely defining the incoming states and measuring the outgoing states in a scattering experiment, we set up the boundary condition for experimentally solving the Schrödinger equation. In this Perspective we discuss cold inelastic scattering experiments using the most theoretically tractable H 2 and its isotopologues as the target. We prepare the target in a precisely defined rovibrational ( v, j, m ) quantum state using a special coherent optical technique called the Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage (SARP). v and j represent the quantum numbers of the vibrational and rotational energy levels, and m refers to the projection of the rotational angular momentum vector j on a suitable quantization axis in the laboratory frame. Selection of the m quantum numbers defines the alignment of the molecular frame, which is necessary to probe the anisotropic interactions. For us to achieve the collision temperature in the range of a few degrees Kelvin, we co-expand the colliding partners in a mixed supersonic beam that is collimated to define a direction for the collision velocity. When the bond axis is aligned with respect to a well-defined collision velocity, SARP achieves stereodynamic control at the quantum scale. Through various examples of rotationally inelastic cold scattering experiments, we show how SARP coherently controls the dynamics of anisotropic interactions by preparing quantum superpositions of the orientational m states within a single rovibrational ( v, j ) energy state. A partial wave analysis, which has been developed for the cold scattering experiments, shows dominance of a resonant orbital that leaves its mark in the scattering angular distribution. These highly controlled cold collision experiments at the single partial wave limit allow the most direct comparison with the results of theoretical computations, necessary for accurate modeling of the molecular interaction potential.
To control molecular scattering, we consider hydrogen molecules prepared in a coherent superposition of m states within a single rovibrational (v, j) energy eigenstate using Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage (SARP). Specifically, SARP can prepare a bi-axial state of the HD molecule in which the HD bond axis exists simultaneously in two possible alignments at right angles to one another with a well-defined relative phase. We show that scattering from this biaxial state will interfere, resulting in a φ -dependent scattering intensity distribution, where φ is the azimuthal angle about the collision velocity direction. Using the scattering matrix extracted from our experiments on the rotationally inelastic collisions of quantum state prepared HD at low temperatures, we calculate the differential scattering cross-section dσ/dΩ, which shows an interference pattern as function of θ and φ in the image plane perpendicular to the collision velocity. The calculated scattering image shows that scattering from the bi-axial state directs molecules along well-defined angles, corresponding to interference maxima. Thus, the bi-axial state behaves like a double slit for molecular scattering. Moreover, by rotating the polarizations of the SARP preparation lasers, we can control the interference thereby altering the scattering angular distribution. This molecular interferometer, which experimentally measures the relative phases of the scattering matrix elements, allows a direct test of theoretical calculations on important, fundamental collision processes.
Resonant scattering of optically state-prepared and aligned molecules in the cold regime allows the most detailed interrogation and control of bimolecular collisions. This technique has recently been applied to collisions of two aligned ortho-D_{2} molecules prepared in the j=2 rotational level of the v=2 vibrational manifold using the Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage technique. Here, we develop the theoretical formalism for describing four-vector correlations in collisions of two aligned molecules and apply our approach to state-prepared D_{2}(v=2,j=2)+D_{2}(v=2,j=2)→D_{2}(v=2,j=2)+D_{2}(v=2,j=0) collisions, making possible the simulations of the experimental results from first principles. Key features of the experimental angular distributions are reproduced and attributed primarily to a partial wave resonance with orbital angular momentum ℓ=4.