Setting benchmarks for modelling gas-surface interactions using coherent control of rotational orientation states.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32561837.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-16930-1 and PMC identifier 7305202.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The coherent evolution of a molecular quantum state during a molecule-surface collision is a detailed descriptor of the interaction potential which was so far inaccessible to measurements. Here we use a magnetically controlled molecular beam technique to study the collision of rotationally oriented ground state hydrogen molecules with a lithium fluoride surface. The coherent control nature of the technique allows us to measure the changes in the complex amplitudes of the rotational projection quantum states, and express them using a scattering matrix formalism. The quantum state-to-state transition probabilities we extract reveal a strong dependency of the molecule-surface interaction on the rotational orientation of the molecules, and a remarkably high probability of the collision flipping the rotational orientation. The scattering matrix we obtain from the experimental data delivers an ultra-sensitive benchmark for theory to reproduce, guiding the development of accurate theoretical models for the interaction of H<sub>2</sub> with a solid surface.