Alignment of a Mg and Ca metastable beam produced by discharge

Giovanni Giusfredi, P. Minguzzi, F. Strumia +1 more

M. R. Atadzhanov, Eugeny N. Kotlikov, М. П. Чайка

N. Beverini, F. Giammanco, E. Maccioni +2 more

E. L. Leasure, Charles R. Mueller, Thomas Y. Ridley

A molecular beam source for high-energy metastable atoms, utilizing a corona discharge, is described. It was designed for scattering experiments where accurate alignment of beam components is required. The metastable atoms produced in this source have kinetic energies from 5 to 74 eV dependent on the species and sufficient velocity selection to reveal structure in the differential cross sections. These high-energy metastables were previously reported as photons. When the molecular beam source was operated at 200–300 Torr, a supersonic beam of metastables was produced. An optimization of operating conditions produced a supersonic beam flux two orders of magnitude greater than previously reported.

Giovanni Giusfredi, A. Godone, E. Bava +1 more

We describe the realization of a source of Mg atoms in the metastable triplet 3s3p3P and we report a theoretical model describing the dynamic process of production of metastable atoms via electron impact excitation. Experimental results concerning atomic flux and velocity distribution are reported and compared with the theoretical model; the efficiency of production of metastable atoms was 40%, in good agreement with the computed value, and the velocity distribution showed a dependence from the discharge current close to the theoretical prediction.

М. П. Чайка