TRANSIENT ABSORPTION SPECTRA OF ELECTRON-BEAM-PUMPED RARE GASES.

Summary form only given. In the experiments reported, the visible and near-UV absorption spectra of the Rg//2 * excimers produced by e-beam excitation have been studied with a pulsed Xe lamp and an optical multichannel analyzer (DMA). In this way, spectra with a bandwidth of 75 nm can be acquired and normalized on a single firing of the e-beam. Consequently, the relative absorption at two different wavelengths is fixed, and spectra with excellent resolution are obtainable. Examination of the Ar*//2 spectrum in 2310 torr or Ar reveals a molecular Rydberg series which converges to the photoionization continuum of Rg//2 *.