COLLISIONAL DEACTIVATION STUDIES OF THE XE(6P) STATES IN HE AND NE

The decay kinetics of the Xe(6p[1/2]0 or 2p5), Xe(6p[3/2]2 or 2p6) and Xe(6p[5/2]2 or 2p9) states have been studied in He and Ne buffer gas using the two-photon laser-excitation technique. The pressure dependence of the fluorescence decay rates was used to measure the total quenching rate constants at 300 K. The primary product distribution from two-body collisions with He or Ne were estimated from product fluroescence intensities, and state-to-state quenching rate constants were assigned. Limited information about the decay kinetics of the Xe(2p7),Xe(2p8),Xe(2p10) states was inferred from observation of the decay of these product states at various He and Ne pressures. With the exception of Xe(2p5) in He and Ne and Xe(2p7) in He, the decay constants of the Xe(6p) states are less than 1.0 x 10(-11) cm3 s-1, and these rate constants are smaller then the decay constants for heavier rare gases. The collisional depolarization of Xe(2p6) by Ne was studied by monitoring the decay rates of the vertical and horizontal polarization components of the fluorescence intensity.