https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-026-01207-x
Research - Plasmas
Processes of energy transfer related to the 6p[5/2]3 to 5 s[3/2]2 transition under laser-induced krypton ionization
1
State Key Laboratory of Laser Interaction With Matter, Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, 710024, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
2
Key Laboratory of Chemical Lasers, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 116023, Dalian, Liaoning, China
3
School of Physics, Dalian University of Technology, 116023, Dalian, Liaoning, China
4
Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
a
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b
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Received:
7
November
2025
Accepted:
10
June
2026
Published online:
4
July
2026
Abstract
Metastable Kr atoms were obtained using laser-induced ionization, and the temporal evolution based on the 431.96 nm (6p[5/2]3 → 5 s[3/2]2) spectral line was investigated. From the perspective of energy transfer from the 6p[5/2]3 level, it was preliminarily revealed that the rate of population transfer from the highly excited states generated by the ionization process to the metastable state is limited, which is one of the factors restricting the increase in metastable concentration. In “electron-impact excitation + radiation” I stage, the population of the 6p[5/2]3 level primarily comes from the electron-impact excitation of 5p[3/2]2 level Kr atoms. In “electron-impact excitation + radiation” II stage, due to electron collisions with ground state, metastable, and 5p[3/2]2 level Kr atoms, population of Kr atoms is replenished to the 6p[5/2]3 level, resulting in a negative slope in the Stern–Volmer plot. The total collisional replenishment rate constant obtained is (0.030 ± 0.003) × 10–11 cm3 s−1. In “ion–electron recombination” stage, due to the continuous recombination process, the population progressively fills the higher excited states, and the kinetic effects on each energy level tend to be homogeneous. The total collision decay rate constant is (0.0012 ± 0.0001) × 10−11 cm3 s−1, and the total radiation decay rate constant is (0.0044 ± 0.0006) × 107 s−1.
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Ke Huang and Jia Wu contributed equally to this work.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
