Stokes parameters from neon states excited by polarized electrons

Abstract

For neon 3p states excited by transversely polarized electrons, the integrated Stokes parameters, and , have been measured from threshold to 300 eV for the decay photons of 692.9, 667.8 and 717.4 nm wavelengths from the and states, respectively. The and parameters for the 692.9 and 667.8 nm transitions indicate similar excitation mechanisms consistent with their similar `L S component states'. The non-zero indicates the breakdown of L S-coupling and the large values near threshold suggest a significant exchange process. For the 717.4 nm transition, the three Stokes parameters are much smaller than those of the other two lines. The low is surprising since the large (75.4%) -coupled component state was expected to cause large exchange effects.