Electronic energy transfer between metastable argon atoms and ground-state oxygen atoms
Abstract
We have measured the rate constants for excitation of the 3p3P and 3s3S states of atomic oxygen by metastable Ar(3P2,0) to be (7.6 ± 2.6) and (8.2 ± 2.5)× 10–11 cm3 molecule–1 s–1, respectively. Using a vacuum ultraviolet absorption technique we have also determined a translational energy of ca 0.4 eV for O(3s3S). The coincidence of the two rate-constant measurements and the results of the translational-energy measurement shows that the electronic energy-transfer reaction between Ar*(3P0,2) and O(2p43P) excites primarily O(3p3P) and that >90% of the O(3s3S) excitation is by radiative cascade.