Merging beams study of the D+(H2,H)HD+ and H2+(D,H)HD+ reaction mechanisms

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Abstract
Lab‐energy distributions of HD+ ions formed in the D+(H2,H)HD+ reaction were measured with high resolution for collisions with relative energy W in the range 1 eV⩽W⩽5 eV. In addition to observing the transition from long‐ to short‐lived collision complexes and the relative growth of repulsive interactions, we also observed the possible participation of charge transfer in the entrance channel of the reaction. The charge transfer contribution was suggested by independent study of the H2+(D,H)HD+ reaction, which follows predominantly direct interactions over the range 0.1 eV⩽W⩽10 eV. HD+ ions formed in the H2+(D,H)HD+ reaction have recoil energies in the same range as HD+ ions which appear as a distinct shoulder in the D+(H2,H)HD+ product distributions. For W⩾8 eV, the H2+(D,H)HD+ reaction yields a small fraction of H atoms which may be in an electronically excited state.