Spectroscopic and kinetic analysis of the krypton VUV continuum in neon-krypton mixtures

The VUV spectroscopic study of -particle-excited neon-krypton mixtures showed the occurrence of intense energy transfers from neon to krypton. The spectra of mixtures containing a few per cent krypton are similar to those of pure krypton. They are dominated by krypton's second continuum centred at 148 nm, its intensity increasing with the krypton concentration and the total pressure. Furthermore, a low-intensity emission due to the heteronuclear ion situated at 166.5 nm was also observed. The kinetic study of the second continuum of krypton revealed that heteronuclear reactions play an important role in the formation of at low krypton partial pressures. Their reaction constants were found to be for the state and for . Under high krypton pressures, homonuclear reactions were dominant, the reaction constant being for the state and for .