QUENCHING OF RYDBERG STATES BY ATOMS WITH SMALL ELECTRON AFFINITIES

Ilya I. Fabrikant

Department of Physics and Astronomy 
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA

We calculate cross sections for quenching of Rydberg states by a ground-state 
atom as a function of the principal quantum number and find that this process 
is very sensitive to the electron affinity of the ground-state atom if the 
quantum defect of the Rydberg state is substantial.