We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the rotationally inelastic
scattering of OH (X2Π3/2, J = 3/2, f) radicals with the
collision partners He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and D2 as a function of the collision
energy between ∼70 cm−1 and 400 cm−1. The OH radicals are state
selected and velocity tuned prior to the collision using a Stark decelerator, and
field-free parity-resolved state-to-state inelastic relative scattering cross sections are
measured in a crossed molecular beam configuration. For all OH-rare gas atom systems
excellent agreement is obtained with the cross sections predicted by coupled channel
scattering calculations based on accurate ab initio potential energy surfaces. This series
of experiments complements recent studies on the scattering of OH radicals with Xe [J.J.
Gilijamse, S. Hoekstra, S.Y.T. van de Meerakker, G.C. Groenenboom, G. Meijer, Science
313, 1617 (2006)], Ar [L. Scharfenberg, J. Kłos, P.J. Dagdigian, M.H.
Alexander, G. Meijer, S.Y.T. van de Meerakker, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12,
10660 (2010)], He, and D2 [M. Kirste, L. Scharfenberg, J. Kłos, F. Lique, M.H.
Alexander, G. Meijer, S.Y.T. van de Meerakker, Phys. Rev. A 82, 042717
(2010)]. A comparison of the relative scattering cross sections for this set of collision
partners reveals interesting trends in the scattering behavior.