Electron impact excitation of atomic oxygen: Revised cross sections

Abstract

Revised cross‐section values for the excitation of the O I(3 s ³ S °‐2 p ³ P ; λ1304 Å), O I(3 d ³ D °‐2 p ³ P ; λ1027 Å), and O I(3 s ′ ³ D °‐2 p ³ P ; λ989 Å) resonance transitions by electron impact on atomic oxygen are presented from threshold to 300 eV. These results are smaller than the excitation cross sections used in some airglow models by a factor of ∼2.8. The revised values are in good agreement with recent quantum‐scattering calculations. The downward revision is required by new laboratory studies in which the direct and dissociative cross sections for λ1304 Å excitation were normalized with small probable error to the O and O 2 ionization cross sections. The results also reflect new advances in VUV optical calibration techniques. A number of outstanding airglow problems are simplified by these revisions.