ABSORPTION SPECTRA OF METAL ATOMS IN SOLID XENON

The absorption spectra of lithium, sodium, cadmium, and mercury in solid xenon were obtained at temperatures between 4.5 and 30.0°K. The absorption spectra of the trapped atoms exhibit multiplets. These multiplets can be explained by assuming that one component is caused by isolated metal atoms in the xenon and that the remaining components are due to interacting pairs of metal atoms trapped at nonnearest-neighbor substitutional sites. The energies of the interacting pairs of atoms were obtained from the diatomic potential curves. The assignments of the isolated components were confirmed by concentration studies or by selective bleaching of the components. © 1969.