Collisions ofNe*(3s)andNe+with Ne: Excitation and charge transfer, elastic scattering, and diffusion

Abstract

Results of previous structure calculations by the authors on the ground and excited states of ${\mathrm{Ne}}_2$ and ${\mathrm{Ne}}_2^{+}$ are used to calculate total, diffusion, and excitation - (or charge-) transfer cross sections for collisions of ${\mathrm{Ne}}^{*}(3s, {}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_{2,1,0}^{}{}_{}{}^{} \mathrm{and} {}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}P_1^{}{}_{}{}^{})$ and ${\mathrm{Ne}}^{+}\left({}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}P_{\frac{3}{2},\frac{1}{2}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}\right)$ with the ground-state neon atom. The calculations have been carried out both including and excluding spin-orbit coupling, to demonstrate its effect. The influences of curve crossings (and adiabatically avoided crossings), potential maxima, and long-range forces on the magnitude and shape of the cross sections are emphasized. It is shown that the inference of excited-state potential curves from experimental scattering data can be a much more difficult task than is commonly assumed. The calculated cross sections and related quantities are in generally good agreement with the available experimental measurements.