and D + HD chemical reactions*

Stereodynamic control of rotational quenching of vibrationally excited HD molecules, by means of cold inelastic collisions with H₂, D₂ and He, has recently been demonstrated by combining intra-beam technologies with Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage techniques for the preparation of molecular states [1-2]. Control of the angular distribution of the scattered molecules in these processes has also been addressed in recent theoretical studies [3-5]. In this work we examine the stereodynamics of H + D₂↔ D + HD chemical reactions in the cold and ultracold regimes with vibrational excitation of the molecules to the v=4 level. The trend in stereodynamic preference is analyzed in terms of polarization of the initial and final rotational angular momenta of the reactant and product molecules.

[1] W. E. Perreault, N. Mukherjee, and R. N. Zare, Science 358, 356 (2017).
[2] W. E. Perreault, N. Mukherjee, and R. N. Zare, J. Chem. Phys. 150, 174301 (2019).
[3] J. F. E. Croft et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 113401 (2018).
[4] J. F. E. Croft and N. Balakrishnan. J. Chem. Phys.150, 164302 (2019).
[5] M. Morita et al. Phys. Rev. Research 2, 032018(R) (2020).