Potential energy curves and spin-orbit coupling of light alkali-heavy rare gas molecules

Noble-gas atoms characterized by hyperfine frequency shift of lithium atom

We report an experimental and theoretical study on the shift of the hyperfine splitting frequency of ground-state Li atoms in noble gases, He, Ne, Ar, and Xe. The frequency shift is due to the change in the electron-spin density at the Li nuclei induced by collisions to the noble-gas atoms. The electron density is calculated along the interatomic distance in a pseudopotential and a dispersion potential. Based on the measured and the calculated frequency shifts, we find the importance of attractive force in collisions to helium as well as heavy noble-gas atoms. Taking advantage of the simple energy structure of the Li atom, we obtain the s wave scattering length for free electrons on noble-gas atoms by using the hyperfine splitting frequency as a precise measure.

Data Needs for Modeling Low-Temperature Non-Equilibrium Plasmas: The LXCat Project, History, Perspectives and a Tutorial

Technologies based on non-equilibrium, low-temperature plasmas are ubiquitous in today’s society. Plasma modeling plays an essential role in their understanding, development and optimization. An accurate description of electron and ion collisions with neutrals and their transport is required to correctly describe plasma properties as a function of external parameters. LXCat is an open-access, web-based platform for storing, exchanging and manipulating data needed for modeling the electron and ion components of non-equilibrium, low-temperature plasmas. The data types supported by LXCat are electron- and ion-scattering cross-sections with neutrals (total and differential), interaction potentials, oscillator strengths, and electron- and ion-swarm/transport parameters. Online tools allow users to identify and compare the data through plotting routines, and use the data to generate swarm parameters and reaction rates with the integrated electron Boltzmann solver. In this review, the historical evolution of the project and some perspectives on its future are discussed together with a tutorial review for using data from LXCat.

Spin-orbit coupling in the dissociative excitation of alkali atoms at the surface of rare gas clusters: A theoretical study

We analyze the role of the spin-orbit (SO) coupling in the dissociative dynamics of excited alkali atoms at the surface of small rare gas clusters. The electronic structure of the whole system is deduced from a one-electron model based on core polarization pseudo-potentials. It allows us to obtain in the same footing the energy, forces, and non-adiabatic couplings used to simulate the dynamics by means of a surface hopping method. The fine structure state population is analyzed by considering the relative magnitude of the SO coupling ξ, with respect to the spin-free potential energy. We identify three regimes of ξ-values leading to different evolution of adiabatic state population after excitation of the system in the uppermost state of the lowest np (2)P shell. For sufficiently small ξ, the final population of the J=12 atomic states, P12, grows up linearly from P12=13 at ξ = 0 after a diabatic dynamics. For large values of ξ, we observe a rather adiabatic dynamics with P12 decreasing as ξ increases. For intermediate values of ξ, the coupling is extremely efficient and a complete transfer of population is observed for the set of parameters associated to NaAr3 and NaAr4 clusters.