Sixt Tobias, Stienkemeier Frank, Dulitz Katrin
Institute of Physics, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
J Chem Phys. 2022 Mar 21;156(11):114306. doi: 10.1063/5.0083842.
We demonstrate the control of He(2S)-Li(2S) chemi-ionization reactions by all-optical electron-spin-state preparation of both atomic species prior to the collision process. Our results demonstrate that chemi-ionization is strongly suppressed (enhanced) for non-spin-conserving (spin-conserving) collisions at thermal energies. These findings are in good agreement with a model based on spin angular momentum coupling of the prepared atomic states to the quasi-molecular states. Small deviations from the model indicate the contribution of the Σ channel to the reaction rate, which is in violation of spin conservation.
