Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics
Excitation of singlet and triplet He I states by He-He collisions
Y -Q Liu, Gebhard von Oppen
Abstract
Excitation of the 1snd levels (n=4,5,6) of He I by 12 keV He-He collisions is investigated using an electric-field anticrossing technique. The measured relative substate population of the 1 D and 3 D levels reveals a remarkable difference between one-electron excitation, where only singlet states are excited, and two-electron excitation: the first process produces a strong alignment, whereas the latter yields a more isotropic and equal population of the 1 D and 3 D levels.