Superelastic Scattering of Spin-polarized Electrons from Sodium

Published

September 1, 1989

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 3²P_3/2 (F=3, M_F=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 L_perp}, 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 L_perp}. At high energy, agreement is excellent over the full angular range.

Citation

Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)

Volume

40

Issue

5

Pub Type

Journals

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 October 9, 2025)