Quantum controlled cold scattering between simple atoms and diatoms
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This thesis presents the experimental studies of quantum-controlled cold scattering of H2 isotopologues (HD, D2) with simple rare gas atoms (He, Ne) and diatom molecules D2. In these experiments, we prepare HD and D2 molecules in specific rovibrational levels (v = 2, 4, j = 2, 4) with defined alignments, and study their rotational inelastic scatterings of the state-prepared molecules at low collision temperatures. From a time-of-flight apparatus, we extract information about the angular distributions of the scattered products, therefore providing insights into the dynamics of the collision processes. By combining quantum-state control and low-energy scattering, we are able to interrogate the fundamental interactions between such simple atoms and diatoms at an unprecedented level of detail. The thesis is structured as follows. Chapter 1 serves as an introductory point of the subject. A brief overview of the development and progress of cold scattering is given, and various techniques to achieve cold relative temperatures as well as quantum state control are discussed. The purpose is mainly to situate our experimental techniques in the broad field, and to demonstrate the similarities and difficulties we face. Chapter 2 presents the theoretical treatment of the scattering problem. They serve as the necessary background for analyzing the data in later discussions, and sometimes provide direct comparisons. Chapter 3 focuses on the experimental setup we use to achieve quantum-controlled cold scattering. Many details are elucidated at length. In the next two chapters (Chapter 4, 5), various experimental results of rovibrationally excited HD/D2 with other scattering partners are presented and discussed. Chapter 4 describes the Δj = 2 inelastic scattering results of D2 (v = 2, 4, j = 2, 4) with rare gas atoms He and Ne, as well as the Δj = 1, 2 relaxations of HD (v = 4, j = 2). Chapter 5 includes the scattering results between a pair of state-prepared diatoms D2 (v = 2, j = 2). In these two chapters, theoretical comparisons are provided alongside the data where available. In the last chapter (Chapter 6), we conclude the thesis with more thoughts on the summary and outlook of the project. Although complete satisfactory agreements between theory and experiments have not been necessarily achieved for all of the studies we present, we hope such discussions would inspire more future works of this kind.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Zhou, Haowen |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Zare, Richard N |
| Thesis advisor | Zare, Richard N |
| Thesis advisor | Dai, Hongjie, 1966- |
| Thesis advisor | Fayer, Michael D |
| Degree committee member | Dai, Hongjie, 1966- |
| Degree committee member | Fayer, Michael D |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Chemistry |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Haowen Zhou. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Chemistry. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/sw437gd9745 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Haowen Zhou
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...