Production of 3s State Hydrogen by H2+ Impact on Noble Gases

Absolute cross sections are reported for the production of 3s atomic hydrogen by 20-150 keV H2+ ions incident on He, Kr, and Xe. These measurements were made with an established technique used previously at E.T.S.U. for proton charge transfer cross sections. This basic technique has also been used by laboratories at Georgia Tech and the University of Arkansas to make additional H2+ measurements. Results from these three laboratories are in good agreement and when combined provide a relatively consistant set of 3s cross sections for the five rare gases from 20-700 keV. Excited hydrogen atoms may be formed through several reaction channels; this experimental technique does not identify the relative contributions of these channels to the total 3s production. The multiple features of these cross section curves indicate that the internal structure of the targets plays an important role in the dissociation mechanism and that detailed theoretical descriptions will be quite involved.