EXCITATION OF SPIN-POLARIZED SODIUM AND POTASSIUM ATOMS BY ELECTRON-IMPACT

A beam of unpolarized electrons is crossed at right angles with a beam of partially polarized sodium or potassium atoms (degree of polarizat ion P-A approximate to 21%) and resonance lines from the excited P-2(3 /2,1/2) states are observed in a direction perpendicular to both the a tom and electron beams for electron energies from threshold to 200 eV. The polarization of the emitted photons is measured in the form of th e Stokes parameters P-1, P-2 and P-3. The present measurements for sod ium atoms are in better agreement with the theoretical values than the previously published experimental results. No other experimental or t heoretical results are available for potassium atoms.