Emission of vacuum ultraviolet radiation from neon excimers excited by a heavy ion beam

Abstract

The vacuum ultraviolet emission of neon excited with a pulsed 100 MeV 32S9+ ion beam from the Munich Tandem van de Graaff accelerator was studied at pressures between 1.8 and 96.1 kPa. In the wavelength range between 70 and 110 nm the first, second, and third excimer continua were observed. From time- and pressure-dependent studies of the third continuum emission at a wavelength of 99 nm, rate coefficients k2=(3.6±0.3)×10−13 cm3/s for the bimolecular reaction Ne2++Ne→2Ne+ and k3=(2.84±0.09)×10−31 cm6/s for the termolecular reaction Ne2++2Ne→(Ne2+Ne)2++Ne were determined.