Significant enhancement of XeCl(<i>B</i>, <i>C</i>) and XeF(<i>B</i>, <i>C</i>) formation rate constants in reactions of Xe(5<i>p</i>56<i>p</i>) atoms with halogen donors

Abstract

The quenching rate constants for Xe(6p) atoms by several halogens and halogen-containing molecules have been measured and they are substantially larger than for reactions of Xe(6s) metastable atoms. The effect is largest for molecules with small Xe(6s 3P2) quenching rate constants and the Xe(6p) rate constants for NF3 are 5–20 times larger. Moreover, the branching fractions for XeCl(B, C) and XeF(B, C) formation are also larger for Xe(6p) atoms than for Xe(6s 3P2) atoms; the branching fractions for HCl are enhanced by more than an order of magnitude. These findings may have important implications for the operation and modeling of rare gas halide lasers and other gas discharge devices.