Molecular beam study of the chemi-ionization reaction: Ba+Cl2→BaCl++Cl-

Angular and translational energy distributions have been measured for the BaCl+ and Cl- products of the reaction Ba+Cl2 in crossed molecular beams. A center of mass (cm) cross section was derived by fitting an assumed functional form of cm to the observed laboratory (lab) scattering data. The cm behavior suggests a strongly coupled collision which contrasts with the dynamics of the neutral product channel BaCl+Cl. The threshold energy for reaction is (0.15 +- 0.05) eV. A reaction mechanism is proposed involving small impact parameter collisions with a crossing from the reactant to product surfaces occurring at the inner repulsive part of the potential