Diffusion of Water Molecules in Quantum Crystals

With the use of solid parahydrogen in matrix isolation spectroscopy becoming more commonplace over the past few decades, it is increasingly important to understand the behavior of molecules isolated in this solid. The mobility of molecules in solid parahydrogen can play an important role in the dynamics of the system. Water molecules embedded in solid parahydrogen as deposited were found to be mobile at 4.0 K on the time scale of a few days. The diffusion at this temperature must be due to quantum tunneling in solid parahydrogen. The diffusion dynamics were analyzed based on the theory of nucleation. The concentration dependence on the diffusion rate indicates that there might be correlated motion of water molecules, a signature of quantum diffusion. We find that both water monomers and water dimers migrate in solid parahydrogen and provide insight into the behavior of molecules embedded in this quantum crystal