Product rotational polarization. The stereodynamics of the F+H-2 reaction

The angular momentum polarization of the products of the reaction F + H-2(v = 0,j = 0) --> HF(v') + 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(v' = 0), and to a lesser extent HF(v' = 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.