Endothermal fine-structure transition of metastable argon atoms passing through a micro-slit copper grating

The endothermal fine-structure transition (3P2 → 3P0—175 meV) of metastable argon atoms traversing at a velocity of 1030 m/s a micro-slit copper grating the normal axis of which is set, in a first configuration, at 60° with respect to the incident beam axis, is observed. The related differential cross-section (DCS) is sharply peaked at 60° and its velocity dependence reveals the expected threshold at 900 m/s. In a second configuration, the grating is set at an angle of 43°, allowing for a 7% transmission of the incident beam. Atoms elastically scattered by the corner edges of the grating slits are observed in the angular range 1°–4° and the elastic DCS is measured in relative values. In spite of such a widely unsuited geometry, the endothermal process still appears (with a magnitude 10 times smaller than before), because of the surface corrugation. The inelastic DCS is now peaked at 57.5° with a width of about 6°, as predicted from the corrugation angle distribution deduced from the inelastic DCS of metastable N2* molecules traversing the same grating.