Relaxation processes of Xe*(3p2) metastable atoms in argon-xenon mixtures

The decay constant of the concentration of metastable Xe*(3P 2) in Ar-Xe mixtures has been measured in afterglow at pressures between 0.1 torr and 40 torr. The diffusion coefficient of Xe*(3P 2) in argon has been found to be 81 ± 4 cm2 torr s-1 at 300 K. The relaxation rates of Xe*(3P2) by two-body collisions with argon k3, and by three-body collisions with an argon and a xenon atom k4, have been determined to be respectively (3.5 ± 0.7) × 10-16 cm3 at-1 s-1 and (2.5 ± 0.5) × 10-32 cm6 at -2 s-1.