Physical Review A
Velocity-dependent neutralization cross sections of Ba+ ground and metastable states by Na
Ludo Vermeeren, Peter Lievens, Roger E. Silverans
Abstract
A combined optical-pumping--laser-induced-fluorescence method was developed to determine the fraction of metastable-state ions in a ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ beam. This allowed us to measure the ratio of the charge-exchange cross sections for collisions of ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$(6s) and ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$(5d) ions with a sodium vapor for impact energies ranging from 3 to 29 keV. For a collision energy of 5 keV, the ratio of the cross sections for ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$(5d $^{2}$${\mathit{D}}_{3/2}$) and ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$(5d $^{2}$${\mathit{D}}_{5/2}$) was measured. All results are compared to theoretical near-resonance predictions.