High-Resolution Electron-Impact Emission Spectrum of H 2 . I. Cross Sections and Emission Yields 900-1200 Å

High-resolution (Δλ = 115 mA) emission spectra of molecular hydrogen produced by electron-impact excitation at 100 eV have been obtained in the wavelength range 900-1200 A. The emission spectra can be assigned to transitions between the X 1Σ ground state and the 1sσgnpσu 1Σu and 1sσgnpπu 1Πu Rydberg states. Synthetic rotational line spectra based on the excitation function of Liu et al. and calculated 2pσ B 1Σ-X 1Σ, 2pπ C 1Πu-X 1Σ, 3pσ B' 1Σ-X 1Σ, and 3pπD 1Πu-X 1Σ transition probabilities of Abgrall et al. are generally found to be in good agreement with the experimental spectra in the regions where emissions from 1sσgnpσu (n ≥ 4) and 1sσgnpπu (n ≥ 4) states are negligible. Emission cross sections for D 1Π, D' 1Πu, and D'' 1Π, B' 1Σ, and B'' 1Σ states are obtained by measuring the emission intensities from these states relative to those from the B 1Σ,C 1Πu, and D 1Π states. A high- resolution EUV calibration technique is established. At 100 eV the emission cross sections of the D 1Πu, D' 1Πu, D'' 1Πu, B' 1Σ, and B'' 1Σ states are measured to be (2.8 ± 0.4) × 10-18, (6.3 ± 1.3) × 10-19, (5.9 ± 1.7) × 10-20, (2.1 ± 0.3) × 10-18, and (1.6 ± 0.4) × 10-19 cm2, respectively. In addition, the vibrational emission cross sections have been compared to the estimated excitation cross sections to obtain the predissociation yields for selected vibrational levels of the D 1Π, D' 1Π and D'' 1Π states. The B' 1Σ state is inferred to have very significant excitation into the H(1s)+H(2p,2s) dissociative continuum