Where to Find ICEC? - Screening 2442 Systems for Interparticle Coulombic Electron Capture

Abstract

Interparticle Coulombic Electron Capture (ICEC) provides an environment-assisted pathway for electron attachment that can compete with photorecombination. Here, we present the first comprehensive survey of ICEC in atom-atom and atom-molecule systems, screening 2442 combinations in search of promising candidates for future experimental investigation. We employ the efficient asymptotic approximation to predict ICEC cross sections and electron spectra. Intramolecular nuclear motion is included, while interparticle nuclear dynamics is neglected to permit an extensive survey. We identify several classes of atom-atom and atom-molecule systems with favourable ICEC cross sections and ICEC-to-photorecombination ratios, including halogen-halide systems and systems involving a proton and diatomic molecules such as N$_2$, O$_2$, CO, and NO. These findings point to atmospheric and astrochemical environments in which ICEC may be relevant.