Study of low-energy resonant metastability exchange in argon by a pulsed merging beam technique

The resonant metastability exchange process in low-energy collinear collisions between metastable argon atoms (Ar* 3P2) polarized in spin (M = +2) and ground-state Ar atoms from a nozzle beam is studied by means of a time-of-flight technique. A wide range of metastable atom velocities in the laborat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. B, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2008-01, Vol.41 (2), p.021001-021001 (4)
Main Authors: Grucker, J, Baudon, J, Perales, F, Dutier, G, Vassilev, G, Bocvarski, V, Ducloy, M
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The resonant metastability exchange process in low-energy collinear collisions between metastable argon atoms (Ar* 3P2) polarized in spin (M = +2) and ground-state Ar atoms from a nozzle beam is studied by means of a time-of-flight technique. A wide range of metastable atom velocities in the laboratory frame (275 m s-1 down to 50 m s-1) is obtained by use of a Zeeman slower, the counter-propagating laser beam of which is locked in frequency onto the 3P2-3D3 closed transition (lambda = 811.5 nm). The accessible centre-of-mass energy range (8-27 meV) has not been explored so far, to our knowledge. Calculations based upon existing interatomic potentials of 2g and 2u symmetries are in reasonable agreement with experiment.
ISSN:0953-4075
1361-6455
DOI:10.1088/0953-4075/41/2/021001