Polarization of the luminescence emitted in electron-excited transitions in a magnesium atom

The degree of polarization of the emission is measured for eight transitions in magnesium atom excited by the electron impact from the threshold up to 300 eV. The crossed-beam technique was used. The atom beam density was less than 1011 cm-3. The electron current density did not exceed 10-3 A/cm2. The experiment is compared with calculations. The behavior of the polarization in the 31P - n1D series (n=4-9) is analyzed. The behavior of the polarizations in the series is compared to that of the cross sections in the same series. 2 refs., 11 figs