Quantum state specific dynamics for the O(1D)+HD→OD+H reaction

Rydberg tagging time-of-flight (TOF) techniques has been applied to the investigation of the O(D-1) + HD --> OD + H reaction with very high translational energy resolution and sensitivity. High resolution TOF spectra for the H atom product at different laboratory angles have been measured for the first time, making the determination of the OD product quantum state distributions at different scattering angles possible. Preliminary experimental results show that different vibrationally excited OD products at low rotational levels have strikingly different angular distributions, indicating that intriguing dynamics are involved in this reaction. The experimental results in this work also provide a solid test ground for quantitative theoretical investigations of this benchmark system for insertion mechanism. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)02028-6].