Dissociative recombination and rotational transitions of D$_2^+$ in collisions with slow electrons

TL;DR

This study reports rate coefficients for dissociative recombination and rotational transitions of D₂⁺ ions caused by low-energy electron collisions, highlighting isotopic effects and extending previous research on similar molecular ions.

Contribution

It provides new rate coefficients for D₂⁺, including isotopic effects, using consistent molecular data sets across a range of collision energies, building on prior studies of HD⁺ and H₂⁺.

Findings

Rate coefficients for D₂⁺ dissociative recombination are provided.

Isotopic effects significantly influence rotational transition rates.

Results extend understanding of electron-ion collisions at very low energies.

Abstract

Rate coefficients for dissociative recombination and state-to-state rotational transitions of the D$_{2}^{+}$ ion induced by collisions with very low-energy electrons have been reported following our previous studies on HD$^{+}$ and H$_{2}^{+}$ [9,10]. The same molecular structure data sets, excitations ($N_{i}^{+} \rightarrow$ $N_{f}^{+}=N_{i}^{+}+2$ for $N_{i}^{+}=0$ to $10$) and de-excitations ($N_{i}^{+}$ $\rightarrow$ $N_{f}^{+}=N_{i}^{+}-2$, for $N_{i}^{+}=2$ to $10$) were used for collision energies ranging from $0.01$ meV to $0.3$ eV. Isotopic effects for dissociative recombination and rotational transitions of the vibrationally relaxed targets are presented.