A new instrument for kinetics and branching ratio studies of gas phase collisional processes at very low temperatures

A new instrument dedicated to the kinetic study of low-temperature gas phase neutral-neutral reactions, including clustering processes, is presented. It combines a supersonic flow reactor with vacuum ultra-violet synchrotron photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A photoion-photoelectron coincidence detection scheme has been adopted to optimize the particle counting efficiency. The characteristics of the instrument are detailed along with its capabilities illustrated through a few results obtained at low temperatures (<100 K) including a photoionization spectrum of n-butane, the detection of formic acid dimer formation, and the observation of diacetylene molecules formed by the reaction between the C₂H radical and C₂H₂.

Low Temperature Kinetics of the First Steps of Water Cluster Formation

We present a combined experimental and theoretical low temperature kinetic study of water cluster formation. Water cluster growth takes place in low temperature (23-69 K) supersonic flows. The observed kinetics of formation of water clusters are reproduced with a kinetic model based on theoretical predictions for the first steps of clusterization. The temperature- and pressure-dependent association and dissociation rate coefficients are predicted with an ab initio transition state theory based master equation approach over a wide range of temperatures (20-100 K) and pressures (10^{-6}-10  bar).

Recombination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon photoions with electrons in a flowing afterglow plasma

A new technique, flowing afterglow with photoions (FIAPI), has been developed to measure the rate coefficient for the recombination of complex ions, and, in particular, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) cations with electrons. The method is based on the flowing afterglow Langmuir probe - mass spectrometer apparatus at the University of Rennes I. A helium plasma is generated by a microwave discharge in a He buffer gas and downstream, a small amount of argon gas is injected to destroy any helium metastables. A very small amount of neutral PAH molecules is added to the afterglow plasma by evaporation from a plate coated with the PAH to be studied. PAH ions are then produced by photoionization of the parent molecule using a pulsed UV laser (157 nm). The laser beam is oriented along the flow tube and so a constant spatial concentration of photoions is obtained. The electron concentration along the flow tube is measured by means of a movable Langmuir probe. Ion concentration decay in time is measured at a fixed position using a quadrupole mass spectrometer which is triggered by the laser pulse. The recombination of anthracene and pyrene cations has been studied using this technique and we have found a recombination rate of (2.4 +/- 0.8) x 10(-6) cm(3) s(-1) for anthracene and (4.1 +/- 1.2) x 10(-6) cm(3) s(-1) for pyrene.

Numerical investigation of the discharge characteristics of the pulsed discharge nozzle

The characteristics of the plasma generated by a pulsed discharge slit nozzle (PDN) are investigated. The PDN source is designed to produce and cool molecular ions creating an astrophysically relevant environment in the laboratory. A discharge model is applied to this system to provide a qualitative as well as a quantitative picture of the plasma. We find that the plasma's properties and behavior are characteristic of those of a glow discharge. We model the electron density and energy, as well as the argon ion and metastable atom number density. The results reveal a high abundance of metastable argon atoms in the expansion region, which is more than one order of magnitude higher than the abundance of electrons and ions. These findings confirm experimental observations, which concluded that large molecular ions are dominantly formed through Penning ionization of the neutral molecular precursors seeded in the supersonic expansion of argon gas. The simulations presented here will help optimize the yield of formation of molecular ions and radicals in the PDN source; they will also provide key physical insight into the characteristics of interstellar molecules and ions analogs in laboratory experiments.

Jet-discharge cavity ring-down spectroscopy of ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: progress in testing the PAH hypothesis for the diffuse interstellar band problem

Naphthalene cations (C10H+8) were produced in a slit jet coupled with an electronic discharge, and cavity ring down was used to obtain its absorption spectrum in the region 645-680 nm. Two of the strongest C10H+8 bands previously characterized by matrix isolation spectroscopy were found, both with a fractional blue shift of about 0.5%. This is the first gas-phase electronic absorption spectrum of an ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). This work opens the way for a direct comparison of laboratory PAH spectra with the diffuse interstellar bands (DIB), the origin of which still constitutes an open problem in astrophysics.

High Resolution Spectrum of the (3-0) Band of the b1Sigma+g-X3Sigma-g Red Atmospheric System of Oxygen

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