Cross sections for ionization of rare gas excimers by electron impact and atomic and molecular processes in excimer lasers. Final report 1 Apr 78-30 Sep 79

Theoretical cross sections for ionization of metastable excimers - helium, neon, argon, krypton and xenon - and of metastable mercury are presented. Systematic trends in inelastic form factors and Born cross sections for collisional transitions between excited neighboring levels of atoms are discovered and discussed. Key cycles of atomic and molecular collision processes in excimer lasers are delineated and discussed.