Energy-pooling collisions for K(4P)+Rb(5P) and Na(3P)+Rb(5P) heteronuclear systems

The rate constants of the energy-pooling collisions in the Na-Rb and K-Rb vapor mixtures, resonantly excited by two cw dye lasers, have been measured relative to a known energy-pooling rate constant of a homonuclear reaction. To isolate the heteronuclear contribution in the fluorescence spectrum, a double-modulation technique has been adopted. The effective lifetimes of the excited levels that explicitly appear in the solution equation have been directly measured by using pulsed lasers. A discussion about the collision cross-section dependence on the energy defect involved in the energy-pooling collisions is reported.