Radiative electronic transitions of rare gas molecular ions in cryomatrices

Intrinsic ionic centers in solid Xe were produced by (i) ionization in situ by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light and (ii) deposition of ion-containing ga s on cooled substrate. Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) from the samples wa s studied in the range of transitions between the ground state of ionic cen ters and the lower excited states related to the P-2(1/2), P-2(3/2) limits of Xe ions. The influence of the lattice defects which act as traps for cha rge carriers was examined and conditions of the stability of ionic centers were discussed. The coincidence of the LIF band observed with the samples g rown from discharge with that observed under band-to-band excitation was fo und. It suggests that the electronic structure of self-trapped holes (STHs) is identical with that of intrinsic ionic centers formed in solid Xe after deposition of ion-containing gas (Xe:). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.