Theory of the Effect of Temperature on the Electron Diffraction Patterns of Diatomic Molecules

Author

Russell A. Bonham
Jerry Peacher, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the electron diffraction pattern of a diatomic molecule is considered from the standpoint of the simple kinematic scattering theory utilizing a quartic vibrational potential. The potential is obtained by an expansion of ħ²J( J+1)/2μr²+D exp[-2a(r-r_e)]-2D exp[-a(r-r_e)] about its minimum value r₀. The second-order wavefunction for the nth vibrational and 7th rotational state of the system has been obtained, and expressions for the electron diffraction quantities r_g, l_e ², and M (s) have been computed. General results for the quantity M (s) utilizing the approximate eigenfunctions of the complete Morse potential and incorporating an approximate treatment of the effect of centrifugal stretching are also presented. Explicit expressions for M (s) for the first three vibrational states as derived by this treatment are given. Appropriate sums over all the vibrational and rotational states have been carried out to obtain the temperature dependence for the above quantities. Estimates of the effect of temperature on the parameters r_g and I_e ² at 300° and 1500°K for representative diatomic molecules are given.

Recommended Citation

R. A. Bonham and J. Peacher, "Theory of the Effect of Temperature on the Electron Diffraction Patterns of Diatomic Molecules," Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 38, no. 10, pp. 2319 - 2325, American Institute of Physics (AIP), May 1963.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1733503

Department(s)

Physics

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0021-9606

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1963 American Institute of Physics (AIP), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 1963