Orientation and alignment of alkalip-states excited in low-energy collisions of alkali ions with noble gas atoms

The orientation and alignment of Li(2p) excited in 1–2.5 keV Li⁺ collisions with He and Ar, and of Na(3p) excited in 2.5 keV Na⁺ collisions with He and Ne have been studied by the polarized photon-scattered particle coincidence technique. The covered range of scattering angles is between 1 and 18 degrees. The data are presented in terms of the alignment angle γ and the transferred angular momentumL ^⊥. A qualitative analysis of the data is attempted on the basis of diabatic molecular orbital diagrams for the studied collisions systems.