Smith Group HomePage Publications Curriculum Vitae Send eMail Telephone: (520) 621-2115 FAX: (520) 621-8407 msmith@u.arizona.edu

Our research program is centered about the study of molecular collision dynamics in the gas phase. A large part of the work, both experimental and theoretical, is associated with the development of new supersonic flow reactors for low temperature kinetic measurement. These techniques now allow the study of gas phase ion and free radical reactions from 300 K down to temperatures below 1 K. The results are providing critical insight into reaction mechanisms and find direct application to the study of chemical evolution in interstellar media and terrestrial and planetary atmospheres. Experimental studies have focussed on the behavior of termolecular association processes and their relation to the lifetimes of bimolecular encounters, the dynamics of bimolecular light and heavy atom transfer reactions and electronic, vibrational and rotational energy transfer processes of small molecules and ions at low temperature.

Current projects in our group include development of new laser and mass spectrometric techniques for sensitive and general detection of neutral species in supersonic flow systems. These are being designed in order to allow more complete characterization of complex homogenous and heterogenous reactions in the gas phase. Included in this work are efforts to probe reactions of highly excited metastable species, reactions on nanoscale liquid droplets and ice crystallites and the study of quantum state resolved rates in the limit of zero kinetic energy collisions. Studies in our group stress technique development coupled to measurement of fundamental collision processes and spectroscopic phenomena. Group members receive training in instrument and optical design, flow and vacuum technology, as well as the microscopic understanding of molecular collisions, linear and nonlinear spectroscopy and molecular dynamics.

Selected Publications

D.B. Atkinson and M.A. Smith, Termolecular association chemistry of OH with NO at low temperature, J. Phys. Chem. 98, 5797 (1994).

D.R. Latimer and M.A. Smith, Direct observation of HSF and the bracketing of the SF₆ proton affinity at 5K, J. Chem. Phys. 101, 3410 (1994).

M.A. Smith, Ion-molecule reaction dynamics at ultralow collision energies, in Advances in Ion Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 1, T. Baer and C.Y. Ng, Eds., Wiley, 1994.

D.R. Latimer and M.A. Smith, Electronic energy transfer kinetics of Xe⁺(²P_½) at very low temperatures, J. Chem. Phys. 101, 3852 (1994).

D.B. Atkinson and M.A. Smith, Design and characterization of pulsed uniform supersonic expansions for chemical applications, Rev. Sci. Instr. 66, 4434 (1995).

T.L. Mazely, G.H. Roehrig and M.A. Smith, Free jet expansions of binary atomic mixtures: A method of moments solution of the Boltzmann equation, J. Chem. Phys. 103, 3688 (1995).

D.B. Atkinson, V.I. Jaramillo and M.A. Smith, The low temperature kinetic behavior of the reaction OH+HBr (76242K), J. Phys. Chem. 101, 3356 (1997).

Chemistry Faculty

Maintained by ChemInfo

Department of Chemistry Homepage