A Charge Transfer Mechanism between a Rare Gas Ion and a Diatomic Molecule; the Implication of Inner-Shell Level Mixing

A new mechanism for charge transfer is presented in order to interpret the low-energy experimental results for Ar + +O 2 →Ar+O 2 + and Kr + +O 2 →Kr+O 2 + collisions. A collision complex is formed by the coupling of the outermost orbital of an Ar + (or Kr + ) and the inner O 2 -π u orbital due to the proximity of their binding energies. A further electronic transition takes place from this charge-transfer state to the O 2 + ground state during the formation of the collision complex. The possibility of this mechanism is theoretically considered and the consistency of the present mechanism with the data for Ar + +NO, Kr + +NO, and Ar + +CO collisions is also discussed.