Energy transfers in Ar-Xe and Ne-Xe mixtures excited by alpha particles. I. Spectroscopic study

At wavelengths lower than 550 nm, addition of argon or neon to xenon gives rise to the emission of continua produced by heteronuclear processes (ArXe, Ne + Xe and NeXe + ) indicating large energy transfers from the preponderant and lighter gas. Above 550 nm the transitions observed were all produced by atomic processes. Addition of argon to xenon causes an enhancement of certain xenon emissions ( lambda =770 nm in particular): this does not occur in Ne-Xe mixtures. These processes involve, above all, high energy states of xenon (configuration 5d). The kinetic study of certain emissions is dealt with in paper II (Galy et al., 1993).