FESHBACH ELECTRON RESONANCES IN SOLID AR - OPENING OF ELECTRONICALLY INELASTIC CHANNELS

A resonance is observed in the electron-stimulated desorption yield of metastable Ar atoms from thin films of Ar adsorbed onto Xe and Pt(111 ). For film thicknesses <10 monolayers, the resonance has a full width at half maximum of approximate to 0.4 eV and lies at approximate to 1 1.6 eV (i.e., below the lowest bulk exciton states of Ar). It is attri buted to the formation of Ar-2P3/2,1/2 that can decay into its parent and higher-lying excitons when the autodetaching electron occupies a f inal state in the substrate of sufficiently low energy.