Étude des processus d'ionisation à haute température des vapeurs métalliques par couplage d'une cellule de knudsen et d'une source fox: II. Interprétation des processus d'autoionisation des vapeurs métalliques monoatomiques et influence de la température sur les courbes d'efficacité d'ionisation

Abstract

The ionization processes of monoatomic vapors of Au, Cu, Sn, In, Zn, Hg and Cd atoms have been studied at high temperature by means of a Knudsen cell combined with a Fox ionization source. The fine structure of the ionization efficiency curves of the preceding atoms has been established by studying their temperature dependence. The ionization efficiency curves taken at high temperatures are represented by their respective second derivative curves which were compared and found in good agreement, most of the time, with the first derivatives of the corresponding ionization efficiency curves obtained by photoionization; they lead to the first ionization and critical potentials of each metallic vapor studied. The ionization processes which appeared to be operative in the ionization efficiency of the atoms studied were shown to be principally autoionization processes.