STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IONIZATION EVENT IN THE HE(2-S-3)-HD COLLISION SYSTEM

Vibrational population factors for the nascent Penning ions HD+(nu')(. .. He) and energy of the corresponding Penning electrons are calculate d for the ionization event He(2(3)S)-HD(nu '' = 0) --> [He ... HD+(nu' )] + e(-) taking place at a range of the He-HD separations and orient ations accessible by the system during thermal energy collisions. The vibrational population factors are obtained from the local widths of t he He(2(3)S)-HD(nu '' = 0, N) state with respect to autoionization to HD+(... He) in its nu' th vibrational level. The initial overall pictu re of the autoionization event is consistent with the He(2(3)S)-H-2(nu '' = 0) one. On the other hand, the vibrational population factors ar e different from the approximate average populations used in initial m odel theoretical considerations about the Penning processes in the sys tem. Variation of the calculated quantities with changes in the He-HD separations and orientations is found to be smooth enough to guarante e that the present data might form a sound basis for construction of a nalytical representations of the corresponding 2D surfaces and for fut ure study of the dynamics of the collision system. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.