External electric field effects on the water trimer

Using a model potential that explicitly and extensively incorporates electrical interaction energetics, the structure and stability of the water trimer as a function of external field strength have been investigated. Weak fields produce very minor distortion of the trimerʹs normal cyclic structure; however, there is a moderate field strength beyond which another cyclic conformer becomes the most stable. Then, at very high field strengths, alignment of monomer dipoles with the external field becomes so important that the cyclic structure opens. The balance of competing electrical components that dictates this behavior is discerned from the energy evaluations.