SCATTERING OF A VELOCITY SELECTED POTASSIUM BEAM BY NEON, ARGON, AND XENON GASES AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES
Howard Howland Brown, K. Lulla, Benjamin B. Bederson
Abstract
A thermal K beam was velocity selected, and scattered by Ne, Ar, and Xe gases. The dependence of the total cross section on relative velocity is approximately v/sup -0.4/ for K--Ar and K--Xe, and v/sup 0.8/ for K--Ne. The average relative velocity ranges were 400 to 1430 m/sec for Ne, 480 to 1350 m/sec for Ar, and 380 to 1320 m/sec for Xe. The dependence of the cross section on relative velocity was obtained by removing the cross section from the collision frequency integral. For the v/sup -0.4/ dependences, this gives results correct to 3%. For the v/sup -0.8/ dependences, the error is most likely greater. Three gas temperatures were used: liquid air, room, and 200 deg C. The results for a given gas at different temperatures are consistent with kinetic theory predictions. (auth)