Microwave spectra of the Xe-N2 van der Waals complex: a comparison of experiment and theory

Rotational transitions for the Xe-N2 complex were measured in the frequency region from 4 to 18 GHz using a pulsed-nozzle Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer. Twelve (four) a-type transitions were recorded for the 132Xe-14N2 and 129Xe-14N2 (131Xe-15N)) isotopomers. In addition, the nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structures due to the presence of the 14N (nuclear-spin quantum number I=1) and 131Xe (I=32) nuclei were detected and analyzed. Two ab initio potential-energy surfaces were calculated at the coupled-cluster level of theory with single, double, and pertubatively included triple excitations. Dunning's augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence triple-zeta basis set was used for the nitrogen atoms. For the first surface, a well-tempered basis set with additional polarization functions was used for the Xe atom; for the second surface, a newly developed augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence quintuple-zeta basis set employing small-core relativistic pseudopotentials was used for the Xe atom. The basis sets were supplemented with bond functions for the van der Waals bond. The counterpoise correction was applied to reduce the basis-set superposition error. The resulting two surfaces both have a single minimum at a T-shaped geometry, with well depths of 122.4 and 119.3 cm(-1), respectively. Bound-state energies supported by the potential-energy surface were determined. The quality of the ab initio potential-energy surfaces was evaluated by comparison of the experimental transition frequencies and rotational and centrifugal distortion constants with those derived from the bound-state energies. A scaled potential-energy surface was obtained which has excellent agreement with the experimental data.