Mechanism for decay and spontaneous radiative decay constants of the lowest-lying attractive excited states of Ne2, Ar2, and Kr2

Abstract

Investigation of the kinetics of growth and decay of long-lived excited Ne2, Ar2 and Kr2 by means of fast absorption sepctrophotometry in the 810–995 nm region indicates that the predominant decay mode for these species is spontaneous radiative transition to the ground state at pressures from 200 to 1400 torr. No evidence for collisional steps in the decay mechanism has been found in this pressure range. Spontaneous radiative decay constants for Ne2 (3Σu+), Ar2 (3Σu+), and Kr2 (3Σu+) are 0.151(±0.003)×106, 0.310(±0.004)×106, and 2.83(±0.08)×106 sec−1, respectively.