Polarization Dependence of Resonant Charge Transfer in Low-Energy Collisions ofNa+with Laser-ExcitedNa*(3p)

Relative differential cross sections for charge-transfer scattering have been measured over the collision energy range $E_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.\mathrm{}}=45-75\mathrm{}$ eV. With linearly polarized light exciting $\mathrm{Na}\mathrm{}\left(3s\right)\mathrm{}$ to ${\mathrm{Na}}^{*}\mathrm{}\left(3p\right)\mathrm{}$, the dependence of the charge-transfer cross section on the predominant preparation of the $\Sigma$ or $\Pi$ excited states of the ionic quasimolecule ${\mathrm{Na}}_2^{+}$ has been studied. The results are compared to simple model calculations. It is found that the resonant charge exchange is most probable for the predominant preparation of the ${{\mathrm{Na}}_2}^{+}\left(2\mathrm{}{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{g},\mathrm{u}}\right)$ excited states.