Superelastic scattering of spin-polarized electrons from sodium

Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989 · Physical Review (Section) A: General Physics; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.40.2321· OSTI ID:5593628

McClelland, J J; Kelley, M H; Celotta, R J ^[1]

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1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (US)

Superelastic scattering of spin-polarized electrons from laser-excited sodium atoms has been measured at incident energies of 2.0, 17.9, and 52.3 eV over the angular range 10{degree}--120{degree}. Circularly polarized excitation of the sodium atoms was used to produce pure 3 {sup 2}P{sub 3/2} ({ital F}=3, {ital M}{sub {ital F}}={plus minus}3) states, which are deexcited by collisions with spin-polarized electrons. The spin polarization of both the target electron and the incident electron allows the resolution of triplet and singlet contributions to {ital L}{sub {perpendicular}}, the angular momentum transferred in the collision perpendicular to the scattering plane, and the measurement of {ital r}, the ratio of triplet to singlet cross sections. At low energy, agreement with theory is good over the entire angular range for {ital r}, but only at small angles for {ital L}{sub {perpendicular}}. At high energy, agreement is excellent over the full angular range.

• OSTI ID: 5593628
• Journal Information: Physical Review (Section) A: General Physics; (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review (Section) A: General Physics; (USA) Vol. 40:5; ISSN PLRAA; ISSN 0556-2791
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640304* -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Collision Phenomena
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ALKALI METALS
AMPLITUDES
ATOM COLLISIONS
BEAMS
COLLISIONS
DE-EXCITATION
ELECTRON COLLISIONS
ELECTRON-ATOM COLLISIONS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY RANGE
ENERGY TRANSFER
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EV RANGE
EV RANGE 01-10
EV RANGE 10-100
EXCITED STATES
INVERSE SCATTERING PROBLEM
METALS
ORIENTATION
POLARIZED BEAMS
SCATTERING AMPLITUDES
SODIUM
SPIN ORIENTATION