The Ionization of Argon and Neon by Neutral Argon Beams

As a result of the discovery of Kallmann and Rosen [1,2] that the probability of charge transfer is very great for gas ions moving in a gas of their own molecular or atomic species, the possibility of obtaining an atomic beam of high intensity is at once indicated. Since the charge transfer itself takes place without altering the translatory energy of the moving ion, the translatory energy of the formed neutrals will equal that of the ions in case the ion is not scattered, or only slightly scattered. This fact has been utilized to produce beams of neutral argon atoms for the purpose of this investigation.