I am indebted to Todd Hughes and Jasmin Patel for their moral support and invaluable comments during the writing of this Article. My gratitude also extends to the University of Puget Sound School of Law for its support which permitted me to present a version of this Article at the

The radiative lifetimes and collisional deactivation rate constants by argon of four Xe(5p 5[2P3/2]6p), three Xe(5p 5[2P1/2]6p), and three Xe(5p 5[2P3/2]7p) levels, hereafter referred to as Xe(6p), Xe(6p′), and Xe(7p) states, have been measured by a time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence technique in a flowing afterglow apparatus. The deactivation rate constants of the 6p levels are in the (0.5–5)×10−11 cm3 s−1 range; however, the rate constants for the 6p′ and 7p levels are much higher with values of (15–40×10−11 cm3 s−1. Product states resulting from two-body collisions between the laser excited Xe(6p, 6p′, and 7p) atoms and ground state argon atoms were identified from the product emission spectra. In addition to intramultiplet relaxation, considerable intermultiplet transfer to the 6s′ levels seems to occur for the Xe(6p) states. Both intramultiplet relaxation and intermultiplet transfer (to the 6d, 5d, and 7s manifolds) are important for the Xe(6p′) and Xe(7p) states. Radiative branching ratios for emission in the 450–1100 nm range were measured for several levels. In some cases these ratios can be combined with radiative lifetimes to provide absolute transition probabilities. The lack of reliable branching ratios for the transitions in the infrared is a serious deficiency which prevents the assignment of absolute transition probabilities and also affects the kinetic interpretations for product formation processes.

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Articles you may be interested inCollisional deactivation of twophoton laser excited xenon 5p 5 6p. II. Lifetimes and total quench rates J. Chem. Phys. 84, 715 (1986); 10.1063/1.450568 Laser induced fluorescence study of Xe(5p 56p, 5p 56p′, 5p 57p, and 5p 56d) states in Ne and Ar: Radiative lifetimes and collisional deactivation rate constants J. Chem. Phys. 81, 5760 (1984); 10.1063/1.447628 Radiative lifetimes and twobody collisional deactivation rate constants in Ar for Xe(5p 56p),Xe(5p 56p), and Xe(5p 57p) states Radiative lifetimes and collisional deactivation rate constants of excited Ne(2p 53p) states J. Chem. Phys. 72, 4099 (1980); 10.1063/1.439638Radiative lifetimes and twobody deactivation rate constants for Ar(3p 5, 4p) and Ar(3p 5,4p′) statesThe radiative lifetimes and collisional deactivation rate constants, in argon, of eight Kr(4p 5[ 2P 11215p and ep 312 15p) levels have been measured by a time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence technique in a flowing afterglow apparatus. The measured radiative lifetimes are compared with other experimental values and with theoretical calculations. Radiative branching ratios of these excited states also were measured in order to assign the absolute transition probabilities of the Kr(5p ,5p' -5s, 5s ') transition array from the radiative lifetimes. In addition to the total deactivation rate constants, product states from two-body collisions between Kr(Sp and 5p ') atoms and ground state argon ~toms were identified from the laserinduced emission spectra, and product formation rate constants were assigned. Two-body intermultiplet transfer from Kr(4p 5[2PI121Sp) to the Kr(4p 5[2P3!214d) levels occurs with ease. Intermultiplet transfer from the lowest level in the (4p 5Sp ) configuration to the Kr(4p 55s and 5s ') manifold was fast despite the large energy defect. However, this was the only Kr(5p) level that gave appreciable transfer to the Kr(5s or Ss ') manifold. Generally the favored product states are within a few kT of the entrance channel.778

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