Cross section for electronic energy transfer between mercury isotopes

Previous estimates of the cross section (sigma) for the process 1Hg(63P1)+ /sup J/ Hg(61S /sub o/ )→1Hg(61S /sub o/ )+ /sup J/ Hg(63P1), where i and j are any one of the six stable Hg isotopes, are no better than a factor of ten. We have recently measured the hyperfine structure of the 253.7nm Hg resonance line in low pressure Hg-Ar discharge for natural Hg as well as Hg enriched in 196Hg by 2-4%, as a function of temperature. Using our previously developed resonance radiation transport model in a low pressure Hg+Ar plasma we calculated the exact shape of the hyperfine structure and found a high degree of sensitivity to the value of (sigma). By varying (sigma) we were able to obtain a best fit to the measured hyperfine structure as a function of temperature. This fit determined the value of (sigma). We believe the accuracy of this determination is about 30%