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The collisional behaviour of the spin orbit states of the lead atom, Pb(6 3 P 1,2 ), studied by time‐resolved attenuation of atomic resonance radiation
Author(s) -
Husain D.,
Littler J. G. F.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
international journal of chemical kinetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.341
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1097-4601
pISSN - 0538-8066
DOI - 10.1002/kin.550060107
Subject(s) - chemistry , excited state , atomic physics , atom (system on chip) , quenching (fluorescence) , resonance (particle physics) , ground state , kinetic energy , spectroscopy , analytical chemistry (journal) , fluorescence , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , embedded system , chromatography
A kinetic study of lead atoms in the spin orbit states, Pb(6 3 P 1 ) and Pb Pb(6 3 P 2 ), 0.969 and 1.320 eV, respectively, above the 6 3 P 0 ground state, has been carried out by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The electronically excited lead atoms were generated by the pulsed irradiation of lead tetraethyl and monitored photoelectrically by time‐resolved attenuation of resonance radiation. The decay of the two atomic states has been studied in the presence of He, Ar, H 2 , D 2 , N 2 , O 2 , CO, NO, CO 2 , N 2 O, CH 4 , C 2 H 4 , C 2 H 2 CF 4 , SF 6 , and PbEt 4 , and rate constants for the collisional quenching by these gases are reported. The resulting data are compared with those for the deactivation of other atomic spin orbit states of comparable energy. In general, the higher energy state, Pb(6 3 P 2 ), is found to be deactivated more rapidly. It would appear that the magnitude of the electronic energy to be transferred on collision governs the rates of quenching, at least where a weak interaction potential is involved, and that for most gases, deactivation of Pb(6 3 P 2 ) proceeds via Pb(6 3 P 1 ).