Dissociative excitation of the 6pns levels of PbI in e-PbCl2 collisions

Dissociative excitation of the 6pns levels of lead atoms in collisions between electrons and lead dichloride molecules is studied experimentally. Thirty excitation cross sections of the transitions from the 6pnslevels, including three laser transitions, are measured at an electron energy of 100 eV. Five optical excitation functions are recorded at an electron energy ranging from 0 to 100 eV. Cross sections of the population of low laser (metastable) levels by cascade transitions are determined. Possible channels of dissociative excitation at low electron energies are discussed.