Rotational energy distributions for homonuclear diatomic beams scattered from solid surfaces: A hard-cube model

Rotational energy distributions of diatomic molecular beams scattered from solid surfaces are calculated with a hard-cube model previously used to compute scattering patterns. The extent of energy transfer between rotational and translational degrees of freedom in a scattering system is examined. Both rotationally cold and hot incident beams are considered. The calculations are all numerical.