Dissociative excitation of the odd quartet S, P, D, and F levels of the manganese atom in e-MnCl2 collisions

Abstract

The dissociative excitation of the 4S°, 4P°, 4D°, and 4F° levels of the manganese atom in collisions of slow electrons iwth manganese dichloride molecules is studied experimentally. It is found that the dissociative excitation cross sections for these levels are larger than the cross sections of direct excitation in the e-Mn collisions. The cross section ratios of the electron-atom and electron-molecule collisions, which characterize the effect of the chemical bond of the manganese atom with the halogen on the absolute excitation cross sections, are determined.