Beam-gas chemiluminescent reactions of Eu and Sm with O3, N2O,NO2 and F2

Studies are made of the visible chemiluminescence resulting from the reaction of an atomic beam of samarium or europium with O₃, N₂O, NO₂ and F₂ under single-collision conditions (～10^?4 torr). The spectra obtained for SmO, EuO, SmF, and EuF are considerably more extensive than previously observed. The variation of the chemiluminescent intensity with metal flux and with oxidant flux is investigated, and it's concluded that the reactions are bimolecular. From the short wavelength curoff of the chemiluminescent spectra, the following lower bounds to the ground state dissociation energies are obtained: D⁰₀(SmO) > 135.5 +- 0.7 kcal/mole, D⁰₀(EuO) > 131.4 ± 0.7 kcal/mole, D⁰₀(SmF) > 123.6 ± 2.1 kcal/mole, and D⁰₀(EuF) > 129.6 ± 2.1 kcal/mole. Using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, the latent heats of sublimation are found to be ΔH₁₀₅₂ (Eu) = 42.3 ± 0.7 kcal/mole for europium and ΔH₁₀₈₄(Sm) = 47.9 ± 0.7 kcal/mole for samarium. Total phenomena- logical cross sections are determined for metal atom removal. Relative photon yields per product molecule are calculated from the integrated chemiluminescent spectra and it is found that Sm + F₂ → SmF^* + F is the brightest reaction. The comparison of the photon yields under single-collision conditions with those at several torr shows that energy transfer collisons play an important role in the mechanism for chemiluminescence at the higher pressures. A simple model is presented which explains the larger photon yields of the Sm reactions compared to the Eu reactions in terms of the greater number of electronic states correlating with the reactants in the case of samarium.