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Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics

Collisional processes of rubidium in the S and D Rydberg states with helium

M Hugon, F. Gounand, P. R. Fournier, J. Berlande

Published Apr 28, 1980• 39 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The cross sections for quasi-elastic and inelastic collisional processes between rubidium in non-hydrogenic Rydberg nS and nD states and helium have been measured. The quenching cross section of the Rydberg levels seems to behave similarly for different series, it first increases with n and then reaches a maximum, which is more or less shifted towards low n values, depending on the proximity of the highly degenerate hydrogenic neighbouring levels. The authors' experimental results and those previously obtained are in fair agreement (within a factor of 3 in the worst cases) with the values computed using a simple theoretical approach only taking into account the Rydberg electron-helium interaction.

DOI
10.1088/0022-3700/13/8/013

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The cross sections for quasi-elastic and inelastic collisional processes between rubidium in non-hydrogenic Rydberg nS and nD states and helium have been measured. The quenching cross section of the Rydberg levels seems to behave similarly for different series, it first increases with n and then reaches a maximum, which is more or less shifted towards low n values, depending on the proximity of the highly degenerate hydrogenic neighbouring levels. The authors' experimental results and those previously obtained are in fair agreement (within a factor of 3 in the worst cases) with the values computed using a simple theoretical approach only taking into account the Rydberg electron-helium interaction.
The cross sections for the quenching of highly excited Rb(nS) (32<or=n<or=45) and Rb(nD) (30<or=n<or=41) states have been measured for the different rare gases. In most cases studied, the quenching cross sections seem rather constant or slightly decreasing with n for a given series and a given rare gas. The experimental data are compared with the results of calculations using various theoretical approaches. It is shown that in this range of large n values the main process responsible for the quenching is the Rydberg-electron-rare-gas interaction, as previously stated for lower n values (10<or=n<or=20).
The authors have measured the cross sections for the collisional quenching of highly excited (34<or=n<or=43) S rubidium atoms by ground-state rubidium atoms. The comparison between their data and the values calculated using a theoretical approach that only takes into account the valence electron-ground-state rubidium interaction provides the first experimental estimation of the cross section for the elastic scattering of ultra-low-energy electrons (E approximately=0.01 eV) by rubidium atoms. Their results for the quenching are connected to the available measurements of the self-broadening of the rubidium (5S-nS) lines by using a recent theoretical model: for n approximately 40 the self-broadcasting is essentially due to inelastic collisions. An upper limit is given for the cross section for the isotopic transfer between 85 Rb(nS) and 87 Rb(nS) states due to collisions with ground-state rubidium atoms.
We have measured total cross sections for the collisional depopulation of high-lying nP\mathrm{nP}nP states ($12\ensuremath{\le}n\ensuremath{\le}22$) of rubidium induced by thermal collisions with ground-state rubidium or rare-gas atoms. It is observed that for $n\ensuremath{\ge}14$ the rubidium-rare-gas cross sections do not vary with the principal quantum number, contrary to previous hypotheses. Our results are discussed using the simple argument of quasifree behavior of the valence electron involving either an elastic-scattering or a binary-encounter approach. However, the disagreement observed between the experimental and the computed cross sections suggests that a three-body approach is generally needed for a good understanding of collisional processes involving highly excited states.