ISSN:
1089-7690
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
Notes:
The quenching behavior of neutral metastable species during collisions with a neutral partner is investigated. Usually, radiationless energy transfer can be described by invoking the radiation field as an intermediary between interacting molecules. However, for metastables, the dominant radiation transition moments are suppressed, most often by spin selection rules between the excited and ground energy states. The fast reaction rates for the quenching of the metastables suggest a different intermediary for such cases. Motivated by this phenomena, a two-electron exchange process is proposed as the quenching mechanism. During a collision, it is envisioned that the excited outer shell electron of the metastable effectively undergoes a change of molecular center and is replaced by an electron from the collision partner. The theoretical framework for this process is developed using the formalism of molecular quantum electrodynamics. The electron exchange term is obtained explicitly, using the minimal-coupling method.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.465659
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