Compton scattering evidence for covalency of the hydrogen bond in ice

✍ Scribed by E.D. Isaacs; A. Shukla; P.M. Platzman; D.R. Hamann; B. Barbiellini; C.A. Tulk

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 152 KB
• Volume: 61
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-3697
• DOI: 10.1016/s0022-3697(99)00325-x

✦ Synopsis

Periodic intensity variations in the measured Compton profile anisotropies of ordinary ice I h correspond to distances of 1.8 and 3.0 A ˚, which are close to the hydrogen bond length and the nearest-neighbor O-O distance, respectively. We interpret this result as direct evidence for the covalent nature of the hydrogen bond. Very good quantitative agreement between the data and a fully quantum mechanical bonding model for ice I h , and the disagreement with a purely electrostatic (classical) bonding model support this interpretation and demonstrates how exquisitely sensitive Compton scattering is to the phase of the electronic wavefunction.