Experimental determination of scattering induced angular momentum alignment in state selected rotational transitions

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Abstract
Measurements of angular momentum alignment in molecular beam scattering are presented for scattering of Na2 by He, Ne, and Ar. A mechanism for the production of this alignment is discussed, based on mJ conservation for quantization along the momentum transfer vector. The experimental results differ in several aspects from the predictions of this simple mechanism. It is found that the differential cross sections are strongly dependent on mJ. Furthermore, it is found that the principal axis of the orientational distribution does not coincide with the momentum transfer vector. The discrepancy is attributed to a nonstrict mJ conservation in the collision. These experiments are therefore expected to provide a sensitive probe to the nonsudden aspects of molecular scattering.