SOME RECENT TRENDS AND ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR BEAM RESEARCH.

A review is presented of selected recent developments in experiments involving two-body collisions. The review discusses advances associated with high and low energy beams, and also with beams of intermediate energy. In the description of new experimental techniques, mention is made of methods for internal state selection, production of moderate energy beams and the use of energy analysis of products as a method for detecting inelastic processes such as rotational and vibrational excitation and de-excitation. In discussing new experimental results, examples are given of systems where such inelastic events have been observed. With respect to the determination of intermolecular potentials, it is pointed out that for several systems there is now good agreement between experiment and theory and also between the results from different laboratories. The successful use of inversion procedures for deducing intermolecular potentials from scattering experiments without assuming a semi-empirical functional form is shown in the determination of potentials where it is necessary to take account of both repulsion and attraction. (Author)
Prepared in cooperation with Brown Univ., Providence, R. I. Sponsored in part by National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.