Energy transfer in collisions of excited Ar( 3P 0.2) metastable atoms with H( 2S) atoms. II. Lyman-α emission profile

Abstract

Spectra of the Lyman-α emission resulting from the Ar(4s, 3P 2.0) + H(Is, 2S) interaction have been recorded. The emission line profile is essentially rectangular with a full width of 13 pm. These results show that excited H( n = 2) atoms are formed in the reaction, with nearly all the excess energy (1.34 eV) appearing as kinetic energy of the hydrogen atom. Lyman-α emission profiles also have been obtained from microwave discharge plasmas in argon and helium, containing traces of hydrogen; these profiles are compared with those from the Ar( 3P 2.0) + H( 2S) system.