PRODUCTION OF BALMER RADIATION BY ELECTRON-IMPACT (0-2000 EV) ON SMALL HYDROGEN CONTAINING MOLECULES

Absolute emission cross sections (σcm) of Balmer radiations (n = 3,..., 9, 10, 11 → n = 2) has also been measured in the case of 10OeV electrons incident on H2, HCl, HBr, H2O, H2S, NH3, and CH4. For Balmer-α (n = 3 → n = 2), αcm has also been measured as a function of impact energy between 0 and 2000 eV for the different molecules. For each parent molecule at 100 eV the cross section for Balmer radiation can be approximated by the empirical relation σcm (n → 2) = an-b, where a and b are characteristic for each type of parent molecule and where n refers to the upper level of the excited H atom. © 1979.