Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

Towards quantum state-to-state understanding of ion–molecule collisions

Despite advances, understanding of the quantum state-to-state scattering dynamics between charged ions and neutral molecules at low collision energies remains limited. A high-resolution crossed-beam experiment with quantum state-selected ions prepared by laser photoionization and supporting trajectory surface-hopping calculations now provides insight into the quantum state-to-state collisional dynamics of a model charge-transfer reaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: State-to-state charge-transfer dynamics for Ar+(2P3/2) + N2 → Ar + N2+(v′, J′).

References

  1. Trippel, S., Stei, M., Cox, J. A. & Wester, R. Differential scattering cross-sections for the different product vibrational states in the ion-molecule reaction Ar+ + N2. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 163201 (2013). This paper reports a crossed-beam scattering investigation of the charge-transfer reaction Ar+ + N2 → Ar + N2+.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Besemer, M. et al. Glory scattering in deeply inelastic molecular collisions. Nat. Chem. 14, 664–669 (2022). This paper reports an efficient collisional rotational energy-transfer mechanism termed hard-collision glory scattering.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Chang, Y. C., Xu, Y., Lu, Z., Xu, H. & Ng, C. Y. Rovibrationally selected ion-molecule collision study using the molecular beam vacuum ultraviolet laser pulsed field ionization-photoion method: charge transfer reaction of N2+(X 2Σg+; v+ = 0–2; N+ = 0–9) + Ar. J. Chem. Phys. 137, 104202 (2012). This paper reports how more complex molecular ions can be prepared in selected rotational, vibrational and electronic states by vacuum ultraviolet pulsed field ionization.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Chang, Y.-P., Horke, D. A., Trippel, S. & Küpper, J. Spatially-controlled complex molecules and their applications. Int. Rev. Phys. Chem. 34, 557–590 (2015). A review article that presents how specific conformations and quantum states of neutral molecules can be selected and used in studying molecular reaction dynamics.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Carrascosa, E., Meyer, J. & Wester, R. Imaging the dynamics of ion–molecule reactions. Chem. Soc. Rev. 46, 7498–7516 (2017). A review article that presents the insights gained into ion–molecule scattering dynamics using the VMI-based crossed-beam method.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Zhang, G. et al. Imaging of the charge-transfer reaction of spin–orbit state-selected Ar+(2P3/2) with N2 reveals vibrational-state-specific mechanisms. Nat. Chem. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01278-y (2023).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Towards quantum state-to-state understanding of ion–molecule collisions. Nat. Chem. 15, 1212–1213 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01279-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01279-x

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing