Kinetics of luminescence induced by sputtering metallic cadmium by a pulsed fast electron beam in helium

Results of an experimental study of the kinetics of luminescence observed when a metallic cadmium foil is bombarded in a helium medium by a 3-ns pulsed beam of 150-keV fast electrons are reported. The foil was irradiated at gas pressures from 76 to 2280 Torr. At a foil temperature of T = 240° C, the de-excitation time of the Beitler levels of the Cd II ion was measured as a function of the buffer gas pressure and the constant of collision quenching of the 5s22D_5/2 level of Cd II by He atoms was determined as k ≈ 3 × 10^-29 cm⁶/s. The experimental data were compared with calculations performed for the gas—vapor mixture in order to find the fraction of excited Cd II ions in the 5s²2D_5/2 state produced directly as a result of sputtering of metallic cadmium by high-energy electrons and by components of the helium plasma. At a helium buffer gas pressure of P ≤ 2.5 atm and a temperature of the cadmium target of T = 240° C, the value of this quantity was found to be α = 0.28 + 0.23P (where P is the helium pressure in atmospheres).