Excitation of low-energy H atoms in H+Ne collisions

Excitation of 0.05–2.5-keV H atoms in H+Ne collisions has been examined by measuring the absolute emission cross sections for Balmer-α, Balmer-β, and Lyman-α radiations resulting from the collisions. Lyman-α emission was also observed when an electric field was applied in the interaction region to investigate excitation of H atoms to the (metastable) 2s state. The radiation polarization for each of the above emissions was measured. A new method for absolute calibration of the Lyman-α detector is described, and Lyman-α emission cross sections for ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$+Ar and $e^{\mathrm{-}}$+${\mathrm{H}}_2$ collisions are compared with previous results, the latter reaction giving a significantly smaller cross section than generally accepted. The peculiar behavior of the H+Ne interaction indicated by the measurements is discussed.