Collision spectroscopy with aligned and oriented atoms. III. Effects of initial orbital alignment on H+-Na(3p) charge transfer

Abstract

For pt.II see ibid., vol.22, p.L585-9 (1989). The effect of initial orbital alignment has been studied in 0.5-2.0 keV H+-Na(3p) collisions. The alignment of the Na(3p) state was controlled through the polarization of the laser light used for excitation. Total cross sections for electron capture into the H(n) levels for principal quantum numbers n=2 and n>or=3 were measured, relative to the n=2 capture cross section for the H+-Na(3s) system. Significant variations of the alignment effects were found as a function of collision energy and n. Comparison with theoretical results of 49-state atomic basis calculations of Fritsch (1984,1987,1990) (n=2,3) and 19-state molecular basis calculations of Courbin et al. (1990) (n=2) shows a good overall agreement.