Polarization Effects in the Differential Quenching Cross Section of Na by Diatomic Molecules

The dependence of scattering intensities for the quenching process ${\mathrm{Na}}^{*}\left(3\mathrm{}{}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}P\right)+{\mathrm{N}}_2\mathrm{}(v=0\mathrm{})\mathrm{}\to \mathrm{Na}\left(3\mathrm{}{}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}S\right)+{\mathrm{N}}_2\left(v^{\prime }\right)$ on the polarization of the exiciting laser light has been studied. A distinct anisotropy is observed at small scattering angles, which is most pronounced where the scattering cross section is largest. It is found that the quenching cross section ${\sigma }_1$ for a $3p\pi$ state is smaller that ${\sigma }_0$ for the $3p\sigma$ state and thus electronic angular momentum is transferred to collisional and/or rotational angular momentum.