Velocity Dependence of the Total Cross Section for the Scattering of Metastable He(3S1) by Helium, Argon, and Krypton

Abstract

The velocity (v) dependence of the total cross section (Q) has been measured for the scattering of helium in the metastable 2 ³S₁ state by ground‐state helium, argon, and krypton at relative velocities in the range 1000–3300 m/sec. The results are compared with those previously obtained for the scattering of lithium. For each scattering gas, the shape of Q(v) is similar to that of lithium, but the absolute values for Q are approximately 20% higher. The scattering is largely elastic. It is estimated that the inelastic contribution to Q is about 10% for the He^*–He case, and that it is less than 3% for the He^*–Ar and He^*–Kr cases. The Q(v) for scattering by argon and krypton show undulatory behavior. From the extrema velocities, the product εσ is shown to be close to that for Li scattering, where ε is the depth of the interatomic potential well and σ is the interatomic separation at the zero of the potential. The separate parameters ε and σ are also deduced. A minimum to the number of diatom bound states is established for HeAr(³Σ⁺) and HeKr(³Σ⁺).