The Quenching of Mercury Resonance Radiation. II. The Production of Metastable (3<i>P</i>0) Atoms

Abstract

The production of metastable (3P0) mercury atoms in the quenching of mercury resonance radiation has been investigated with N2, H2, C2H4, C2H6, O2, and CO2. Metastable atoms, by virtue of their ability to induce the emission of electrons from a nickel surface, were detected with the first four gases; none was detected with O2 and CO2.