Absolute Measurements of Collisional Ionization of Xenon Atoms in Well-Defined High Rydberg States

Abstract

Measurements of the absolute cross sections for ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{+}$ production in collisions between xenon atoms in a single well-defined high Rydberg state $|nf〉$ and S${\mathrm{F}}_{6}$ are reported and are \ensuremath{\sim}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ for $25<~n<~40$. The data lend support to the hypothesis that these collisions are dominated by the electron-S${\mathrm{F}}_{6}$ interaction, with the ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{+}$ ion core playing a minor role.