Dissociative excitation of the cesium atom in e-CsCI collisions

The dissociative excitation of the cesium atom in collisions of slow electrons with cesium chloride molecules is studied by the method of extended crossed beams with detection of the optical signal from the crossing region. Forty-seven cross sections for the excitation of spectral lines of CsI in the spectral region 347-852 nm are measured at an electron energy of 100 eV, and 10 optical excitation functions (OEFs) are recorded. It is found that the dependence of the excitation cross sections on the principal quantum number of the upper level in the spectral series of Cs I corresponds to a power law. The characteristic values of the constants in the power law are determined for each of the investigated series. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7842(99)00401-8].