H2+ embedded in a Debye plasma: Electronic and vibrational properties

The effect of plasma screening on the electronic and vibrational properties of the H2+ molecular ion was analyzed within the Born–Oppenheimer approximation. When a molecule is embedded in a plasma, the plasma screens the electrostatic interactions. This screening is accounted in the Schrödinger equation by replacing the Coulomb potentials with Yukawa potentials that incorporate the Debye length as a screening parameter. Variational expansions in confocal elliptical coordinates were used to calculate energies of the 1sσg1sσg and 2pσu2pσu states over a range of Debye lengths and bond distances. When the Debye length is comparable to the equilibrium bond distance, the dissociation energy is reduced while the equilibrium internuclear separation is increased. Expectation values, static dipole polarizabilities and spectroscopic constants were calculated for the 1sσg1sσg state.

► Effect of plasma screening on the properties of the H2+ molecular ion. ► Used a variational wavefunction in confocal elliptical coordinates. ► Potential energy curves for the ground and first excited state are presented. ► Decreasing Debye length increases polarizability of the electron distribution.