The production kinetics for rare gas alkali ions

In a recent paper it was shown that rare gas ions form bound molecular states which decay by emission of radiation in the VUV. They are potential candidates as storage media for VUV lasers. In the present investigation the ions Kr+K, Kr+Cs, Xe+K, and Xe+Cs are produced by electron beam excitation of suitable gas mixtures with He as buffer gas. Studies of the reaction kinetics were performed for Kr+K. The rate constant for the reaction Kr++K+He was determined to be 2.8×10−30 cm3 s−1. Kr+K is strongly quenched by plasma electrons and by reaction with Kr. The fluorescence yield at intense excitation was determined to be about 5×10−2 VUV quanta per He+ ion.