Dissociative Excitation of the Odd Sextet Levels of the Cobalt Atom by Collisions of Electrons with Cobalt Dichloride Molecules

Inelastic collisions of slow electrons with cobalt dichloride molecules, leading to the formation of excited cobalt atoms in odd sextet states, are experimentally studied. At an incident electron energy of 100 eV, thirty six dissociative excitation cross sections are measured for levels belonging to the z⁶D°, z⁶F°, and z⁶G° terms. In the electron energy range of 0–100 eV, ten optical excitation functions are recorded. The full cross sections for the dissociative excitation of the cobalt atom levels and the contribution of cascade transitions to their population are determined. The cross sections for electron–molecule and electron–atom collisions are compared.