Product rotational polarization. The stereodynamics of the F + H2 reaction

The angular momentum polarization of the products of the reaction F + H2 (ν = 0, j = 0) → HF(ν′) + H is calculated via the QCT methodology at a collision energy of 0.119 eV. The HF rotational angular momentum distribution is found to display both alignment and orientation, the latter along the y-axis, perpendicular to the k-k′ scattering plane, which depend sensitively on the product vibrational level. The origin of polarization behaviour is traced back to different dynamical mechanisms leading to production of HF(ν′ = 0), and to a lesser extent HF (ν′ = 1), compared with higher product vibrational states, with the former originating primarily from repulsive insertion type trajectories, and the latter primarily from repulsive abstraction type trajectories.