Energy transfer of highly vibrationally excited naphthalene. II. Vibrational energy dependence and isotope and mass effects

The vibrational energy dependence, H and D atom isotope effects, and the mass effects in the energy transfer between rare gas atoms and highly vibrationally excited naphthalene in the triplet state were investigated using crossed-beam/time-sliced velocity-map ion imaging at various translational collision energies. Increase of vibrational energy from 16 194 to 18 922 cm(-1) does not make a significant difference in energy transfer. The energy transfer properties also remain the same when H atoms in naphthalene are replaced by D atoms, indicating that the high vibrational frequency modes do not play important roles in energy transfer. They are not important in supercollisions either. However, as the Kr atoms are replaced by Xe atoms, the shapes of energy transfer probability density functions change. The probabilities for large translation to vibration/rotation energy transfer (T -> VR) and large vibration to translation energy transfer (V -> T) decrease. High energy tails in the backward scatterings disappear, and the probability for very large vibration to translation energy transfer such as supercollisions also decreases. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.