Collision energy dependence for the Br formation in the reaction of OD+HBr

Abstract

The collision energy dependence for Br(2P3/2) atom formation in the reaction of OD + HBr has been investigated from 0.05 to 0.26 eV using a crossed molecular beam experiment. OD radicals were selected as the single rotational state in the upper state of Λ-doubling of using a 1 m electric hexapole field. Br atoms were detected by the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) laser-induced fluorescence technique. We find that the reaction cross-section decreases, increasing the collision energy. This negative collision energy dependence suggests that there is no barrier on the potential energy surface for the formation pathway considered. Results were compared with those previously reported for the OH + HBr reaction system. We find that the ratio of the reaction cross-section of σ(OD)/σ(OH) shows values larger than one and an increasing tendency when collision energy increases. The collision energy dependence observed is explained in terms of the zero-point energy differences and the rotational periods of OD and OH, which may be related to the time for the proper reorientation of the OH radical prior to the reaction.