Quenching cross sections for Xe( 3P 2) metastable atoms with simple molecules

Abstract

The cross section for quenching of Xe( 3P 2, 8.3 eV) metastable atoms by thirteen simple molecules has been measured using the flowing-afterglow technique. Except for H 2 and N 2, the cross sections for quenching of Xe( 3P 2) are larger than for quenching of Ar( 3P 2). For both Ar( 3P 2) and Xe( 3P 2) the magnitude of the quenching cross section for the majority of the molecules is dominated by long range forces. The technique used for generating Xe( 3P 2) was based upon the addition of Xe to a flow of argon metastable atoms which results in the transfer of energy from a large fraction of Ar metastable atoms to ground state Xe atoms, yielding Xe( 3P 2) atoms.