title: Communication: Determining the structure of the N₂Ar van der Waals complex with laser-based channel-selected Coulomb explosion.
abstract: We experimentally reconstructed the structure of the N2Ar van der Waals complex with the technique of laser-based channel-selected Coulomb explosion imaging. The internuclear distance between the N2 center of mass and the Ar atom, i.e., the length of the van der Waals bond, was determined to be 3.88 Å from the two-body explosion channels. The angle between the van der Waals bond and the N2 principal axis was determined to be 90° from the three-body explosion channels. The reconstructed structure was contrasted with our high level ab initio calculations. The agreement demonstrated the potential application of laser-based Coulomb explosion in imaging transient molecular structure, particularly for floppy van der Waals complexes, whose structures remain difficult to be determined by conventional spectroscopic methods.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chengyin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yongkai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yunquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, Department of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qihuang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong