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Superelastic Scattering of Spin-polarized Electrons from Sodium

Published

Author(s)

Jabez J. McClelland, Michael H. Kelley, Robert Celotta

Abstract

Superelastic scattering of spin-polarized electrons from laser-excited sodium atoms has been measured at incident energies of 2.0, 17.9, and 52.3 eV over the angular range 10°-120°. Circularly polarized excitation of the sodium atoms was used to produce pure 32P3/2 (F=3, MF=plus or minus}3) states, which are deexcited by collisions with spin-polarized electrons. The spin polarization of both the target electron and the incident electron allows the resolution of triplet and singlet contributions to Lperp}, the angular momentum transferred in the collision perpendicular to the scattering plane, and the measurement of r, the ratio of triplet to singlet cross sections. At low energy, agreement with theory is good over the entire angular range for r, but only at small angles for Lperp}. At high energy, agreement is excellent over the full angular range.
Citation
Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
Volume
40
Issue
5

Citation

McClelland, J. , Kelley, M. and Celotta, R. (1989), Superelastic Scattering of Spin-polarized Electrons from Sodium, Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics) (Accessed March 19, 2024)
Created August 31, 1989, Updated October 12, 2021