Excitation transfer from 31P, 31D to 33D of neutral helium by atomic collisions in a magnetic field: extension to higher magnetic fields

The authors have extended their observation of the excitation transfer process to magnetic fields up to 10 T, which is higher than the value of 7.3 T at which the magnetic substates belonging to the 31D and 33D levels undergo level anticrossings. It is found that, with an increase in the magnetic field strength starting from zero, both the rate coefficients for excitation transfer 31P to 33D and 31D to 33D increase and then decrease. These dependences are almost exactly proportional to the magnetic-field dependence of the degree of mixing of the spin wavefunctions of the 31D and 33D levels.