Cold Anisotropically Interacting van der Waals Molecule: TiHe

We have used laser ablation and helium buffer-gas cooling to produce titanium-helium van der Waals molecules at cryogenic temperatures. The molecules were detected through laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Ground-state Ti(a(3)F(2))-He binding energies were determined for the ground and first rotationally excited states from studying equilibrium thermodynamic properties, and found to agree well with theoretical calculations based on newly calculated ab initio Ti-He interaction potentials, opening up novel possibilities for studying the formation, dynamics, and nonuniversal chemistry of van der Waals clusters at low temperatures