Theoretical study of the alkali hydride anions XH–(X = Li, Na, and K)

Abstract

The electronic structure of the alkali hydride anions (LiH-, NaH-, and KH-), has been investigated via ab initio CASSCF/(MRCI + Q) and R-Matrix method calculations. Comparison between the results of the two calculation methods show that the pure bound state method may be unsuitable for the calculation of the electronic states of LiH- molecule, as the potential energy curves that it presents may be spurious. The adiabatic potential energy curves and the dipole moment curves of the low-lying electronic states of alkali hydride anionic molecules are investigated in the representation 2s+1Ʌ(+/-) where the percentage ionic character fionic around the equilibrium position of the ground state X2Σ+ has been calculated. Additionally, the spectroscopic constants Te, Re, ωe, Be, the dipole moment µe, and the dissociation energy De were computed for the bound states of the two molecules NaH- and KH-. The transition dipole moment curves for the lowest 2Σ+– 2Π transition have been also presented along with their Franck-Condon factor (FCF). A rovibrational study has been performed using the canonical functions approach in order to study the nuclear motion and find the rovibrational constants for the ground and several excited states. The diagonal Franck-Condon factor f00 may provide efficient routes for the formation of cold and ultracold molecules.