Role of Metastable States in the Production of Scintillations in the Rare Gases by Alpha Particles

Abstract

The lifetimes of alpha-ray induced scintillations in the rare gases (Xe, Kr, A, and Ne) were measured as a function of pressure. The lifetimes were found to be inversely proportional to the pressure. It is shown that the major part of the scintillations are in the far ultraviolet—below 1250 A. It is suggested that these scintillations result from the destruction of metastable excited states of the rare gas ions.