Supercollisions of NaCl + NaCl on an Accurate Full-Dimensional Potential Energy Surface

An accurate, global, full-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) of NaCl + NaCl has been constructed by the fundamental invariant-neural network (FI-NN) fitting based on roughly 13,000 ab initio energies at the level of CCSD(T)-F12a/aug-cc-pVTZ, with the small fitting error of 0.16 meV. Extensive quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) calculations were performed on this PES to investigate the energy transfer process of the NaCl + NaCl collision at four different collision energies. Various quantities were obtained, including the cross-sections, energy transfer probability, average energy transfer, and collision lifetime. The probabilities of energy transfer (P(ΔE)) for prompt trajectories, nonreactive trajectories, and reactive trajectories deviate from a simple exponential decay pattern. Instead, a noteworthy probability is observed in the high-energy transfer region, indicative of supercollisions. The formation of the (NaCl)₂ complex, coupled with a comparatively extended collision lifetime, promotes vibrational excitation in NaCl molecules. The reactive trajectories exhibit enhanced energy transfer, attributed to the longer lifetime of the NaCl dimer. This study not only provides an accurate and extensive understanding of the NaCl + NaCl collision dynamics but also reveals intriguing phenomena, such as supercollisions and enhanced energy transfer in reactive trajectories, shedding light on the complex intricacies of molecular interactions.