Kinematics of charge transfer: Ar^++H2

Abstract

Product angular and velocity vector distributions have been measured in a crossed beam experiment for the charge transfer process Ar++H2→Ar+H2 + at relative collision energies of 0.13, 0.48, and 3.44 eV. Charge transfer was found to occur by two distinct mechanisms: (1) a simple electron‐jump mechanism which preserves the quasirectilinear trajectories of the colliding species and which selectively produces H2 + in the vibrational state most nearly resonant with the reactant ion, and (2) an intimate‐collision mechanism which results in large‐angle scattering and which produces H2 + in a broad range of vibrational states.