Metastable Atoms and Molecules. II. Interactions of Metastable Atoms and Molecules of Ar, H2 , and N2 with Metal Targets

Neutral atom or molecule beams with kinetic energies ranging from 25 to 360 eV have been allowed to strike a molybdenum target. With argon, the observations disclosed that surface ionization occurred with ejection of low-energy positive ions, and that secondary electron emission occurred. With hydrogen, no surface ionization was observed, but there was secondary electron emission and there was strong photon emission from the target with subsequent tertiary electron emission. The photon emission was identified roughly to be in the energy range of Lyman $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ radiation. With nitrogen, there was no surface ionization, but there was considerable ejection of negative ions identified as $C{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ with kinetic energies up to the range of 20 eV. The negative ions could not be eliminated by flashing the target. A weak secondary and tertiary electron emission was also observable.