Collision-induced emission of O2(b1Σ → a1Δg) in the gas phase

In flow tube studies of the quenching of O₂(b¹Σ), broad band emission of O₂(b):M collision complexes was found to appear under the discrete rotational lines of the 0–0 band of the b¹Σ → a¹Δ_g electric quadrupole transition at higher oxygen pressures and on addition of foreign gases. Bimolecular rate constants for the collision-induced emission processes have been derived from the ratio of the intensities of the discrete lines and the continuum as well as from low-resolution measurements of the relative intensities of the b → a and b → X bands as a function of O₂ and added gas pressure. They range from ≈10^?21 cm³ s^?1 for He to ≈4 × 10^?19 cm³ s^?1 for PCl₃ vapor.