An attempt to observe Mott scattering optically
- 14 March 1992
- journal article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
- Vol. 25 (5) , 1089-1096
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/25/5/019
Abstract
We report an attempt to make an optical observation of Matt scattering, involving the first studies of inelastic collisions between polarized electron^ and a heavy noble gas. Polarization fractions of light emitted by the 5ps6p(~),('D,) state of Xe following impact excitation in an axial collision geometry were measured as a funclion of the incident electron energy, and compared with distorted-wave Bom calculations. The theoretical and experimental results agree qualitatively in the energy range where cascade contributions to the photon signal are small. We failed to measure non-zero values of the linear polarization fraction 7,. which would have constituted unambiguous evidence for Matt scattering and/or the importance of higher-order excitation processes in this system.Keywords
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