Scattering of thermal He beams by crossed atomic and molecular beams. IV. Spherically symmetric intermolecular potentials for He+ CH_4, NH_3, H_2O, SF_6

Abstract

Differential scattering cross sections are measured for He+CH_4, NH_3, H_2O, and SF_6, using the crossed molecular beams technique. These data, which are sensitive to the van der Waals attractive minima and adjacent regions of the intermolecular potential, are interpreted in terms of central‐field models. No evidence is found for quenching of the observed diffraction oscillations. The interactions of the isoelectronic hydrides CH_4, NH_3, H_2O with He are found to have decreasing van der Waals radii in this sequence, and their attractive wells all have similar depths. However, the He+SF_6 attractive well is found to be anomalously deep, and provides a counter example to the supposition that only the polarizability of the least polarizable of the interacting partners (atoms or molecules) correlates with the van der Waals well depth. Simple combination rules for predicting unlike‐pair potential parameters from the corresponding like‐pair ones are tested and found inadequate.