Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We report on the sticking time of the AlF dimer in the ultracold regime. We employ a full-dimensional potential energy surface for AlF-AlF, constructed using a machine learning approach [X. Liu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 159, 144103 (2023)], to compute the density of states using a semiclassical counting method. Next, using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory, we determine an RRKM sticking time of 216.0 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 4.8 ns, which is shorter than that of other previously reported nonreactive dimers. Then, based on the available potential energy surfaces and RRKM sticking time data for a few dimers, we observe that the RRKM sticking time correlates with the ratio of the dimer dissociation energy to the dissociation energy of its parent molecule. Thus, we propose this ratio as a parameter to estimate RRKM sticking times. Furthermore, using ab initio methods, we optimize and calculate the energies of the equilibrium geometries of AlCl-AlCl, CaH-CaH, and MgF-MgF, thereby determining the ratio of the dimer dissociation energy to the parent molecule dissociation energy. Based on this ratio, we propose a hierarchy to order the sticking lifetimes of those dimers in the ultracold regime.
Source: Physical Review A
DOI: 10.1103/439v-zzn5
Institutions: Stony Brook University, Assiut University
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G7536544673
OpenAlex ID: W4416147886