Laser-induced quadrupole-quadrupole collisional energy transfer in Xe-Kr systems

Experimental investigation of laser-induced quadrupole-quadrupole collisional energy transfer between Xe and Kr is reported in this paper. The excitation spectrum of laser-induced collisional energy transfer (LICET) is characterized by a slowly decreasing tail on the blue side of the peak and a width of ∼30 cm ^-1. The experimental evidence shows that in the quasistatic wing the quadrupole-quadrupole LICET spectrum follows a power law that is different from the dipole-dipole LICET line shape and the profile of the quadrupole-quadrupole LICET decreases more slowly than the dipole-dipole LICET profile. The results indicate that the laser-induced quadrupole-quadrupole collision can be considered as a practical process to transfer energy selectively from a storage state making a parity-nonallowed transition to a target state making a parity-allowed transition.