Collision-induced emission from S(1S) by He, Ar, N2, H2, Kr, and Xe

Abstract

Collision‐induced emission from S(¹S) has been studied for collisions with He, Ar, N₂, H₂, Kr, and Xe. The S(¹S) was made by OCS photodissociation at 1610 Å. The emitted intensity increased linearly with the added gas pressure. This behavior can be described by rate coefficients for induced emission on the ¹S→¹D transition of (5.6±0.9) ×10⁻²⁰ cm³ molecule⁻¹⋅sec⁻¹ for helium, (4.2±0.3) ×10⁻¹⁸ for argon, (3.3±0.2) ×10⁻¹⁸ for nitrogen, (1.73±0.15) ×10⁻¹⁸ for hydrogen, (1.5±0.1) ×10⁻¹⁷ for krypton, and (1.1±0.05) ×10⁻¹⁶ for xenon. Xenon was also found to enhance the ¹S→³P emission intensity with a rate coefficient of (5.5±1.0) ×10⁻¹⁹ cm³ molecule⁻¹⋅sec⁻¹. Induced emission is a major (and possibly exclusive) path for deactivation of S(¹S) by all these gases except hydrogen.