Interaction of NH(X3Sigma-) molecules with rubidium atoms: implications for sympathetic cooling and the formation of extremely polar molecules.

The Rb-NH interaction is investigated as a prototype for interactions between alkali-metal atoms and stable molecules. For spin-aligned Rb and NH that interact on a quartet surface (4A"), the interaction is relatively weak, with a well depth of 0.078 eV. However, there are also doublet surfaces of ion-pair character that are very much deeper (well depth 1.372 eV). They may be important for atom-molecule collision rates and offer the possibility of forming strongly dipolar molecules by photoassociation. Similar deeply bound ion-pair states are likely to exist for other alkali atom-molecule pairs.