Date of Award

Spring 1987

Project Type

Dissertation

Program or Major

Physics

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

The intensity of the fluorescent radiation from the red wing of the Na D-lines perturbed by rare-gas atoms has been measured as a function of temperature and rare-gas density. These observations were then combined with a quasistatic analysis to determine the potential well depths and the emission peak wavelengths for ${\rm Na(3P)He}\sb2,$ ${\rm Na(3P)Ar}\sb2,$ ${\rm Na(3P)Kr}\sb2,$ and ${\rm Na(3P)Ar}\sb3$ molecules. The following results were obtained: for ${\rm Na\sp\* He}\sb2,$ ${\rm D = 820(110)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 8400$ A; for ${\rm Na\sp\* Ar}\sb2,$ ${\rm D = 1100(150)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 7200$ A; for ${\rm Na\sp\* Kr}\sb2,$ ${\rm D = 1355(180)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 7400$ A; and for ${\rm Na\sp\* Ar}\sb3,$ ${\rm D = 1595(300)\ cm}\sp{-1},$ $\lambda = 8600$ A. These results are consistent with a simple model of the alkali-rare-gas molecules in which the depth of the potential energy well of a given molecule can be accurately represented as the sum of well depths of the individual alkali-rare-gas pairs.

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