Comparison of rotationally inelastic rate constants for Li2A1Σu+(vi=5,ji=30) + Ne measured using pulsed and cw lasers

Abstract We have measured rotationally inelastic rate constants for the process Li 2 ∗ A 1 Σ u + ( v i = 5 , j i = 30 ) + Ne → Li 2 ∗ A 1 Σ u + ( v f = 5 , j f ) + Ne using pulsed laser excitation and compared them to values previously measured using cw laser excitation, applying uniform analysis techniques to both sets of data. We compare the experimental results with rate constants calculated from quasiclassical trajectories on an ab initio potential energy surface, finding that the two experimental methods give consistent results when the different distributions of excited-state collision speeds are taken into account.