Experimental investigation of the kinetics of formation of excited Xe2 molecules in a compressed-xenon laser

The temperature dependences of the rate constants of the formation of excited xenon dimers and of the excitation quenching were determined. The experimental values of the rate constant of the three-particle formation of excited dimers were found to be described satisfactorily by the analytic dependence ln(β/β₀) = 0.39X10⁵T^–2+0.66 (β₀ = 10^–32 cm⁶/sec; Twas measured in °K). When the gas temperature was lowered from 295 to 149°K, the rate constant of the quenching of excited xenon atoms fell from α = (1.1±0.2)X10^–13 cm³sec to α~10^–14 cm³sec. The measured radiative lifetime of the ^3,1∑_u⁺ state of the xenon molecule was found to be τ = 30 ± 10 nsec.