Possibility of vibrationally resolved cross section measurements for low energy charge transfer in H $+$ H$_{2}^{+}$

POSTER

Abstract

Charge transfer (CT) in H $+$ H$_{2}^{+}\to $ H$^{+} +$ H$_{2}$ has fundamental implications because it involves the smallest atomic ion, atom, molecular ion, and molecule possible. The current merged-beam apparatus at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, can reliably create and access low collision energies; the existing ion-atom merged beams apparatus there is currently able to benchmark the CT of these fundamental systems at energies below 0.1eV/u (Phys. Rev. A \textbf{84}, 062716, 2011). A strong contribution from v$_{i}=$2 is observed, however, the data analysis still suffers from the lack of information on the vibrational state distribution of H$_{2}^{+}$. We are exploring the possibility of inserting a three-dimensional imaging technique at the end station~of the ORNL apparatus in order to measure the vibrational state distribution of H$_{2}^{+}$ that are produced by the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source. Discussion of our initial design for the insertion of this technique in the aforementioned system will be presented here.

Authors

  • C.I. Guillen

    Department of Physics, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA 94508

  • R.A. Strom

    Department of Physics, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA 94508

  • J.A. Tobar

    Department of Physics, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA 94508

  • D.I. Panchenko

    Department of Physics, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA 94508

  • V.M. Andrianarijaona

    Department of Physics, Pacific Union College, Angwin, CA 94508